Kroger (NYSE:KR) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $63.00. The stock had previously closed at $61.33, but opened at $63.22. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Kroger shares last traded at $63.31, with a volume of 1,634,640 shares changing hands.

KR has been the subject of several other research reports. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.31.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 58,821 shares of company stock valued at $3,445,490. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Kroger by 11,570.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 96.6% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in Kroger by 110.5% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Kroger by 698.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,792,000 after buying an additional 1,643,307 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 3.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $58.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire 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 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.