Citigroup Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Kroger (NYSE:KR)

Kroger (NYSE:KR)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Citigroup in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $61.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 3.96% from the company’s previous close.

KR has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.80.

Kroger Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $58.68 on Friday. Kroger has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $63.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $60.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. increased its position in Kroger by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Mendel Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 5,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys.