The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Receives $67.19 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.19.

KR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

Kroger Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $64.81 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. Kroger has a 1 year low of $48.21 and a 1 year high of $66.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $62.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.57. The company has a market cap of $46.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % 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, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $120,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $49,760,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 239.0% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 50,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,063,000 after acquiring an additional 35,312 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 12,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $619,000. 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.