Brokerages Set The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Price Target at $58.64

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $58.64.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,087,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,427 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,453,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,653,000 after purchasing an additional 214,852 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kroger by 5.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,562,000 after purchasing an additional 723,771 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Kroger by 13.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,456,000 after purchasing an additional 917,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake 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 valued at $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $53.36 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $53.00 and its 200-day moving average is $53.40. Kroger has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34. The company has a market cap of $38.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

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.