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

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat 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 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.19.

A number of brokerages have commented on KR. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,027,979,000 after purchasing an additional 773,182 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Kroger by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,479,000 after purchasing an additional 416,962 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Kroger by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,113,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,060,000 after purchasing an additional 120,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $598,390,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $65.03 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.26. The company has a market capitalization of $47.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. Kroger has a 1 year low of $46.96 and a 1 year high of $66.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

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

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.