J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of GBX 356

J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 356.

Several research firms have issued reports on SBRY. 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 restated a “house stock” rating on shares of J Sainsbury in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of J Sainsbury to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from GBX 390 to GBX 365 in a report on Tuesday, October 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Simon Roberts sold 560,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 350, for a total value of £1,960,000. Also, insider Katie Bickerstaffe bought 5,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 347 per share, with a total value of £19,890.04. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

J Sainsbury Price Performance

Shares of SBRY stock opened at GBX 360.20 on Thursday. J Sainsbury has a 52-week low of GBX 293.70 and a 52-week high of GBX 380.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 339.32 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 334.36. The firm has a market capitalization of £7.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 115.36, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.59.

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

J Sainsbury announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, October 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase £100 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the grocer to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.