Brokerages Set The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Price Target at $63.33

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $64.31.

A number of research firms have issued reports on KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Kroger from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock opened at $62.06 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $58.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.91. Kroger has a 12 month low of $43.51 and a 12 month high of $63.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market cap of $44.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,821 shares of company stock worth $3,445,490. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 218.8% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.