The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $74.5625.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Old North State Trust LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 6,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 7,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $218,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 363,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,694,000 after buying an additional 44,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mengis Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 44,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,784,000 after buying an additional 3,369 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $73.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $46.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $68.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.39. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $58.60 and a fifty-two week high of $76.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.08. Kroger had a return on equity of 41.08% and a net margin of 0.69%.The business had revenue of $34.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.300 EPS. 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 will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 91.50%.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) is one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States, offering a wide range of retail grocery and related services. Founded in Cincinnati in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company operates a portfolio of supermarket and multi-department store banners and provides customers with fresh foods, packaged groceries, deli and bakery items, meat and seafood, produce, and prepared foods. Kroger’s stores commonly include pharmacy services and fuel centers, positioning the company as a broad-based neighborhood retail destination for everyday needs.

In addition to traditional in-store retailing, Kroger manufactures and distributes a variety of private-label brands and operates its own food production and supply-chain facilities.