Brokerages Set The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Price Target at $59.36

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $59.36.

KR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research raised Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 9th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,010 shares of company stock valued at $444,056 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KR. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Kroger by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,453,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,653,000 after purchasing an additional 214,852 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 5.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,562,000 after acquiring an additional 723,771 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Kroger by 13.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after acquiring an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 96.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 8.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,279,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,543,000 after purchasing an additional 407,690 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 1.0 %

KR opened at $56.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $40.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. Kroger has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. The business’s fifty day moving average is $53.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.93.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.