The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.17.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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.

Kroger Trading Up 0.1 %

Kroger stock opened at $55.57 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $40.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.37. Kroger has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The business had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total value of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,615,091.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,767 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Kroger in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. SouthState Corp lifted its position in Kroger by 334.3% in the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 370.1% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.