Evercore ISI Issues Positive Forecast for Kroger (NYSE:KR) Stock Price

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its target price upped by equities researchers at Evercore ISI from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.31% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on KR. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.81.

Kroger Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of KR stock traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $65.04. 2,198,537 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,291,457. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.31. The company has a market cap of $47.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. Kroger has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $65.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. The trade was a 18.26 % 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 valued at $12,143,923. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KR. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its position in Kroger by 1,628.1% in the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.