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

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $64.31.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 188,438 shares of company stock worth $11,657,598. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after buying an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,524,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in Kroger by 16.0% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 138,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 19,186 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $61.18 on Wednesday. Kroger has a one year low of $44.07 and a one year high of $63.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically 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.