Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Kroger (NYSE:KR) to “Buy”

Kroger (NYSE:KR) was upgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $73.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $54.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 21.34% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.64.

Kroger Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $60.16 on Tuesday. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $43.51 and a fifty-two week high of $61.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a fifty day moving average of $57.50 and a 200 day moving average of $54.45. The company has a market capitalization of $43.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the 3rd 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% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after purchasing an additional 36,083 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the second quarter worth about $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,524,000. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN increased its stake in Kroger by 82.2% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 59,949 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.