J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 356.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a GBX 310 target price on shares of J Sainsbury in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a GBX 375 price target on shares of J Sainsbury in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Shore Capital Group reiterated a “house stock” rating on shares of J Sainsbury in a report on Friday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of J Sainsbury to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from GBX 390 to GBX 365 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of J Sainsbury from GBX 330 to GBX 346 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

J Sainsbury Trading Up 0.1%

SBRY stock opened at GBX 338.60 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 115.36. J Sainsbury has a twelve month low of GBX 293.70 and a twelve month high of GBX 380.30. The stock has a market capitalization of £7.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is GBX 337.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 333.46.

J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The grocer reported GBX 9.50 earnings per share for the quarter. J Sainsbury had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 6.39%. As a group, analysts anticipate that J Sainsbury will post 25.72 earnings per share for the current year.

J Sainsbury announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, October 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase £100 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the grocer to purchase up to 1.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at J Sainsbury

In related news, insider Simon Roberts sold 560,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 350, for a total value of £1,960,000. Also, insider Katie Bickerstaffe acquired 5,732 shares of J Sainsbury stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 347 per share, for a total transaction of £19,890.04. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

J Sainsbury Company Profile

J Sainsbury plc is one of the UK’s leading food, general merchandise and clothing retailers.

Offering delicious, great quality food at competitive prices has been at the heart of what we do since we opened our first store in 1869. Today, inspiring and delighting our customers with tasty food remains our priority. Our purpose is that driven by our passion for food, together we serve and help every customer.

Our focus on great value food and convenient shopping, whether in-store or online is supported by our brands – Argos, Habitat, Tu, Nectar and Sainsbury’s Bank.