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

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.19.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on KR shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. The trade was a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $64.81 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $62.08 and its 200-day moving average is $58.57. Kroger has a 52 week low of $48.21 and a 52 week high of $66.26.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 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.