Brokerages Set The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Target Price at $60.09

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.09.

Several equities research analysts have commented on KR shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This represents a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 11,570.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,417,000 after buying an additional 2,706,398 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Kroger by 96.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 110.5% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 698.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,792,000 after buying an additional 1,643,307 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $59.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $42.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $56.89 and a 200-day moving average of $54.23. Kroger has a 12-month low of $42.97 and a 12-month high of $60.35.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

Kroger Company Profile

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.