StockNews.com Downgrades Kroger (NYSE:KR) to Buy

Kroger (NYSE:KR) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on KR. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. BNP Paribas began coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.93.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $58.74 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. Kroger has a one year low of $44.48 and a one year high of $63.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $60.28 and its 200 day moving average is $56.44.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Kroger during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.