The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR – Get Rating) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.18.
Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. BNP Paribas raised shares of Kroger from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $51.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 10th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Kroger to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 20th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Kroger from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Kroger from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 17th.
Get Kroger alerts:Kroger Stock Performance
KR opened at $44.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $31.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.49. Kroger has a 52-week low of $41.81 and a 52-week high of $62.78. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $45.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.37.
Kroger (NYSE:KR – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 1st. The company reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $34.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.92 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.61% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The company's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.Kroger Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 15th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 14th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.50%.
Insider Activity at Kroger
In related news, SVP Mary Ellen Adcock sold 43,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.27, for a total value of $1,903,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 135,611 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,498.97. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 5,779 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.72, for a total value of $275,773.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,320 shares in the company, valued at $253,870.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mary Ellen Adcock sold 43,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.27, for a total transaction of $1,903,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 135,611 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,003,498.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.35% of the company's stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PFS Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. PFS Investments Inc. now owns 34,163 shares of the company's stock worth $1,617,000 after buying an additional 4,081 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 262.9% during the 2nd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 36,205 shares of the company's stock worth $1,714,000 after buying an additional 26,228 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,976,448 shares of the company's stock worth $86,543,000 after buying an additional 302,406 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 172.4% during the 2nd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 111,669 shares of the company's stock worth $5,285,000 after buying an additional 70,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 387,903 shares of the company's stock worth $16,971,000 after buying an additional 6,168 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.03% of the company's stock.
About Kroger
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The Kroger Co engages in the operation of supermarkets and multi-department stores. Its brands include Big K, Check This Out?, Heritage Farm, Simple Truth, and Simple Truth Organic. The company was founded by Barney Kroger in 1883 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH.
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