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

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $66.88.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America increased their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock opened at $66.16 on Friday. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.21. The company has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. Kroger has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $68.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Research analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,308,919.22. This represents a 7.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 223,244 shares of company stock valued at $15,001,418 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.