Evercore ISI Increases Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target to $74.00

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from $73.00 to $74.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Evercore ISI's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 10.29% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on KR. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.88.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR stock traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.10. 1,941,581 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,818,908. Kroger has a 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $68.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.55 billion, a PE ratio of 17.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

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Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were 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 owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Kroger by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company's stock worth $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 36,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $566,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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