Kroger (NYSE:KR) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Kroger (NYSE:KR) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 4.350-4.450 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 4.440. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Kroger also updated its FY25 guidance to $4.35-4.45 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Kroger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.64.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR traded up $0.11 during trading on Thursday, hitting $60.02. 1,133,637 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,631,097. Kroger has a 52-week low of $43.51 and a 52-week high of $61.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.64 and a 200 day moving average of $54.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $43.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This trade represents a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.