Telsey Advisory Group Reiterates Outperform Rating for Kroger (NYSE:KR)

Kroger (NYSE:KR)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Telsey Advisory Group in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 18.55% from the stock’s previous close.

KR has been the topic of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Kroger Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $52.30 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $37.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.47. Kroger has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.56.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 53.3% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,380,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,115,000 after buying an additional 261,368 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Kroger by 18.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,882,000 after buying an additional 129,873 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in Kroger by 82.2% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after buying an additional 59,949 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $671,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.