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

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.09.

KR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KR. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 220.9% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,988 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA grew its position in shares of Kroger by 246.5% during the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 50,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,913,000 after buying an additional 36,167 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 7.4% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 461,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,439,000 after buying an additional 31,778 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Kroger by 8.0% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 354,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,296,000 after buying an additional 26,231 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 7.7% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 52,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,990,000 after acquiring an additional 3,721 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 0.8 %

Kroger stock opened at $57.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $56.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.17. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $42.54 and a fifty-two week high of $60.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

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.