Kroger (NYSE:KR) Given New $60.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its price objective reduced by Evercore ISI from $61.00 to $60.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on KR. BNP Paribas restated an underperform rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $55.70.

Kroger Trading Down 3.3 %

Kroger stock opened at $50.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.43. Kroger has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The business had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total value of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,615,091.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,767 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter worth $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after buying an additional 1,123,427 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth $42,220,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $39,619,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Company Profile

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.