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

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $64.31.

KR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kroger from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,821 shares of company stock worth $3,445,490. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KR. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth $315,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 36.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 138,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,939,000 after buying an additional 36,903 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, PGGM Investments purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $396,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $62.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.91. Kroger has a 12-month low of $43.51 and a 12-month high of $63.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

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

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 33.86%.

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.