Kroger (NYSE:KR) Given New $62.00 Price Target at Evercore ISI

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its target price lowered by Evercore ISI from $63.00 to $62.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas restated an underperform rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $55.26 on Tuesday. Kroger has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,863,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Kroger by 82.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,667,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,552,989 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Kroger by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,724,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438,626 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter worth about $71,410,000. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,087,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,427 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.