Kroger (NYSE:KR) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Melius

Melius cut shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $58.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on KR. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Kroger Stock Up 4.9 %

KR stock opened at $70.59 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $64.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.72. The stock has a market cap of $51.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. Kroger has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $70.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 127,106 shares in the company, valued at $8,308,919.22. This represents a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 223,244 shares of company stock valued at $15,001,418. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $598,390,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $277,989,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $264,207,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Kroger by 11,570.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,706,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.