Kroger (NYSE:KR) Receives Neutral Rating from Citigroup

Citigroup reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR) in a report issued on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $61.00 price target on the stock.

KR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America upped their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.80.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $58.68 on Friday. Kroger has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $63.59. The company has a market capitalization of $42.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

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

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KR. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its holdings in Kroger by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group grew its holdings in Kroger by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC increased its position in Kroger by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 5,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.