BNP Paribas Reaffirms “Underperform” Rating for Kroger (NYSE:KR)

Kroger (NYSE:KR)‘s stock had its “underperform” rating reiterated by BNP Paribas in a report released on Monday, StockNewsAPI reports. They currently have a $48.00 price objective on the stock. BNP Paribas’ price target points to a potential downside of 16.24% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on KR. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.08.

Kroger Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $57.31 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $51.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.12. Kroger has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KR. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 12.2% in the first quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its stake in Kroger by 1.2% in the first quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 17,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $879,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 1.9% in the first quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 11,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 3.4% in the first quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 2.7% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 8,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Company Profile

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.