Credit Suisse maintained Kroger Company (NYSE: KR) with an Outperform rating and raised the price target from $29.00 to $33.00.
Credit Suisse noted, “The tide has certainly changed for supermarkets, as KR was rewarded for solid earnings without checking all the boxes historically needed to satisfy investors. Q4 EPS of $0.88 soundly beat consensus and our estimate of $0.70, even after excluding an $0.11 benefit from LIFO and taxes. But, all of the upside was driven by strong cost control, IDs (+3.0%) were roughly in line, and the gross margin was somewhat disappointing. Guidance for 2013 also exceeded consensus ($2.75 vs. $2.64), but the upside reflects the Q4 beat and a lower-than-expected LIFO charge.”
Kroger Company closed at $30.25 on Thursday.
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Tags: Credit Suisse
Posted in: Analyst Color, Price Target, Analyst Ratings