Bank of America Boosts Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target to $75.00

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its target price lifted by Bank of America from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 21.26% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on KR. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.43.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $61.85 on Friday. Kroger has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $63.59. The firm has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $58.84 and a 200-day moving average of $55.22.

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

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 205,370 shares of company stock valued at $12,697,900 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kroger by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after acquiring an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,336,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth $566,000. Finally, Buck Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth $6,524,000. 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.