The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.33.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Melius Research assumed coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Kroger Stock Up 5.1 %

KR opened at $60.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $43.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.65. Kroger has a twelve month low of $43.51 and a twelve month high of $61.37.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 33.86%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,821 shares of company stock worth $3,445,490. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 218.8% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.