The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.80.

Several research firms recently weighed in on KR. Guggenheim initiated coverage on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas started coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Park Capital Management LLC WI acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $1,002,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 175,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,721,000 after purchasing an additional 56,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 174.3% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 284,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,649,000 after buying an additional 181,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $61.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $44.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $60.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.96. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.