Telsey Advisory Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Kroger (NYSE:KR) Stock

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its price objective raised by analysts at Telsey Advisory Group from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 11.96% from the stock’s previous close. Telsey Advisory Group also issued estimates for Kroger’s FY2027 earnings at $5.10 EPS.

KR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Roth Mkm raised their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $65.20 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.75. Kroger has a twelve month low of $45.88 and a twelve month high of $66.18. The company has a market cap of $47.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,027,979,000 after purchasing an additional 773,182 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,479,000 after purchasing an additional 416,962 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 120,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $598,390,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently 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.