J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) Board Approves Share Buyback Plan

J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, October 23rd, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase £100 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the grocer to repurchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

J Sainsbury Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of SBRY stock traded up GBX 3.90 during trading hours on Monday, reaching GBX 353.10. 1,384,014,375 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,096,709. J Sainsbury has a 1 year low of GBX 293.70 and a 1 year high of GBX 380.30. The stock has a market cap of £7.69 billion, a PE ratio of 20.89, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 115.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is GBX 337.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is GBX 333.35.

J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The grocer reported GBX 9.50 EPS for the quarter. J Sainsbury had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 6.39%. Research analysts predict that J Sainsbury will post 25.72 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on SBRY. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a GBX 375 target price on shares of J Sainsbury in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of J Sainsbury from GBX 330 to GBX 346 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Shore Capital Group reaffirmed a “house stock” rating on shares of J Sainsbury in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a GBX 310 price objective on shares of J Sainsbury in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 390 price objective on shares of J Sainsbury in a report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, J Sainsbury presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of GBX 360.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Katie Bickerstaffe purchased 5,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 347 per share, for a total transaction of £19,890.04. Also, insider Simon Roberts sold 346,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 333, for a total transaction of £1,152,692.82. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

J Sainsbury Company Profile

J Sainsbury plc is one of the UK’s leading food, general merchandise and clothing retailers.

Offering delicious, great quality food at competitive prices has been at the heart of what we do since we opened our first store in 1869. Today, inspiring and delighting our customers with tasty food remains our priority. Our purpose is that driven by our passion for food, together we serve and help every customer.

Our focus on great value food and convenient shopping, whether in-store or online is supported by our brands – Argos, Habitat, Tu, Nectar and Sainsbury’s Bank.