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

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.09.

Several brokerages have issued reports on KR. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after buying an additional 36,083 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,524,000. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 82.2% in the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 59,949 shares during the period. Finally, Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 63.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 38,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 15,048 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $58.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.10. Kroger has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $60.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

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.