Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target Raised to $82.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its target price boosted by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $72.00 to $82.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.90% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on KR. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.06.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $71.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $47.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $67.44 and its 200 day moving average is $62.86. Kroger has a one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $73.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $72,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,473 shares in the company, valued at $754,370.19. This trade represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $2,162,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 97,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,043,905.59. The trade was a 23.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,027,979,000 after acquiring an additional 773,182 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kroger by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,479,000 after purchasing an additional 416,962 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,113,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,060,000 after buying an additional 120,250 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $598,390,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,829,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $478,768,000 after acquiring an additional 916,230 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.