Kroger (NYSE:KR) Receives "Outperform" Rating from Telsey Advisory Group

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by Telsey Advisory Group in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $73.00 price target on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group's price target indicates a potential upside of 4.21% from the company's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on KR. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Melius raised shares of Kroger from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.11.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR stock traded up $4.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $70.05. The company had a trading volume of 4,947,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,802,335. The company has a market cap of $46.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.58. Kroger has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $73.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.12.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.81% and a return on equity of 28.17%. The business had revenue of $45.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, EVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 13,867 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.82, for a total transaction of $995,927.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,402,156.76. This represents a 15.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 31,271 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $2,160,200.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 82,684 shares in the company, valued at $5,711,810.72. This represents a 27.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,679 shares of company stock worth $7,865,706 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 208,073 shares of the company's stock worth $14,084,000 after purchasing an additional 2,586 shares during the last quarter. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the first quarter worth about $631,000. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new position in Kroger during the first quarter worth about $383,000. Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 1st quarter valued at about $654,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $62,730,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.