Kroger Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:KR)

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 68,127 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 442% compared to the average volume of 12,563 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Melius upgraded Kroger from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 97,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,043,905.59. The trade was a 23.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 10,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $754,370.19. This represents a 8.72% 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 valued at $7,865,706 in the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KR. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $71.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.13, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.96. Kroger has a 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $73.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.89 and a 200-day moving average of $65.20.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.17% and a net margin of 1.81%. The company had revenue of $45.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. Kroger’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.