The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,610,000 shares, a growth of 16.8% from the March 15th total of 13,370,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger
Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Kroger in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, SouthState Corp boosted its position in Kroger by 334.3% in the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Kroger Stock Down 1.7 %
Kroger stock traded down $0.95 on Friday, hitting $55.20. 3,862,880 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,488,506. Kroger has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $52.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.49. The firm has a market cap of $39.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.48.
Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.
Kroger Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. Kroger's payout ratio is 39.19%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KR. BNP Paribas reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.08.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Kroger
About Kroger
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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.
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