KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $134.5333.

KKR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $177.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $113.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th.

KKR & Co. Inc. Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:KKR opened at $96.89 on Tuesday. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.67 and a 52-week high of $153.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $97.94 and a 200 day moving average of $106.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.00 billion, a PE ratio of 32.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The asset manager reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. KKR & Co. Inc. had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 5.42%. The business had revenue of $5.74 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from KKR & Co. Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. KKR & Co. Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 26.53%.

KKR & Co. Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the asset manager to purchase up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KKR & Co. Inc.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 60,064,587 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,657,034,000 after acquiring an additional 821,739 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 6.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,507,741 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,804,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261,314 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,995,742 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,903,220,000 after acquiring an additional 146,285 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,715,929,000. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 8,597,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,095,951,000 after acquiring an additional 67,441 shares during the last quarter. 76.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About KKR & Co. Inc.

KKR & Co Inc is a global investment firm headquartered in New York City that specializes in private markets and alternative asset management. Founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg Jr., Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts, the firm built its reputation in leveraged buyouts and has since expanded into a multi-strategy asset manager. KKR operates across private equity, credit, real assets (including real estate and infrastructure), growth equity and hedge fund strategies, offering a range of investment products and strategies for institutional and private investors.

KKR manages capital through traditional closed-end funds as well as customized vehicles such as separate accounts, co-investments, and listed investment vehicles.