Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target Raised to $65.00

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its target price boosted by Citigroup from $61.00 to $65.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.50.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR opened at $66.81 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $62.27 and its 200-day moving average is $59.04. Kroger has a one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $67.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Equities analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 169,559 shares of company stock valued at $10,587,476 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 14.3% in the third quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares during the period. M&G PLC grew its position in Kroger by 8.7% during the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 462,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,341,000 after buying an additional 36,822 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 4.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 884,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,688,000 after acquiring an additional 40,914 shares during the period. Finally, Montecito Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 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.