J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) Shares Cross Above 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of GBX 338.33 and traded as high as GBX 344.88. J Sainsbury shares last traded at GBX 343.80, with a volume of 13,657,762 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on SBRY. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of J Sainsbury to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from GBX 390 to GBX 365 in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Shore Capital Group reaffirmed a “house stock” rating on shares of J Sainsbury in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on J Sainsbury from GBX 330 to GBX 346 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 356.

J Sainsbury Trading Up 1.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of £7.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 338.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 333.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 115.36.

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

J Sainsbury declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, October 23rd that permits the company to repurchase £100 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the grocer to buy up to 1.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Katie Bickerstaffe bought 5,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 347 per share, for a total transaction of £19,890.04. Also, insider Simon Roberts sold 560,000 shares of J Sainsbury 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. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

About J Sainsbury

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.