J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) Stock Rating Lowered by Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup downgraded J Sainsbury to a neutral rating and cut its target price from GBX 377 to GBX 335, implying roughly a 1.89% upside from the prior close.
• The stock opened at GBX 328.80 with a market cap of £7.35 billion, and analysts' consensus remains a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target of GBX 323.75.
• Insider Katie Bickerstaffe bought 4,297 shares at GBX 347 (about £14,910.59), reflecting recent insider buying activity.

J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Citigroup to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Digital Look reports. They currently have a GBX 335 target price on the grocer's stock, down from their previous target price of GBX 377. Citigroup's price objective suggests a potential upside of 1.89% from the stock's previous close.

SBRY has been the topic of several other reports. Shore Capital Group reiterated a "house stock" rating on shares of J Sainsbury in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a GBX 310 price objective on shares of J Sainsbury in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on J Sainsbury from GBX 350 to GBX 345 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of GBX 323.75.

J Sainsbury Trading Down 1.3%

J Sainsbury stock opened at GBX 328.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of £7.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 107.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of GBX 345.18 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 333.80. J Sainsbury has a 52 week low of GBX 259 and a 52 week high of GBX 361.80.

J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The grocer reported GBX 22.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of GBX 3,364.70 billion for the quarter. J Sainsbury had a net margin of 1.14% and a return on equity of 6.12%. Equities research analysts predict that J Sainsbury will post 25.7241977 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Katie Bickerstaffe acquired 4,297 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 347 per share, for a total transaction of £14,910.59. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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