Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target Raised to $70.00

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $65.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Kroger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim raised their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.09.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $60.75 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $43.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $43.51 and a fifty-two week high of $61.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.57.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased 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 buying an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,795,000 after buying an additional 126,303 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Kroger by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,562,000 after buying an additional 723,771 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Kroger by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after buying an additional 917,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Kroger by 96.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.