The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Receives $57.30 Average PT from Analysts

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $57.30.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KR. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Kroger by 255.6% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp grew its position in Kroger by 334.3% during the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Kroger by 101.6% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $54.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. Kroger has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $1.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.39%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 39.59%.

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.