The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• The Kroger Co. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from twenty research firms, with an average target price of $73.63 for the stock.
• Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares at an average price of $70.50, reducing his ownership by over 21%.
• Kroger announced a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, which will be paid on December 1st, representing an annualized yield of 2.2%.

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.6316.

KR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price target (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Roth Mkm upgraded Kroger from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price target on Kroger and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total value of $1,890,387.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 99,143 shares in the company, valued at $6,989,581.50. The trade was a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.3% in the third quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 245,991 shares of the company's stock worth $16,582,000 after buying an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 59.7% in the third quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,911 shares of the company's stock worth $1,005,000 after buying an additional 5,577 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 33.7% in the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,722 shares of the company's stock worth $183,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 3.8% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 28,664 shares of the company's stock worth $1,932,000 after buying an additional 1,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 44.0% in the third quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 9,160 shares of the company's stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 2,798 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $64.83 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $68.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.03. Kroger has a 52-week low of $54.88 and a 52-week high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 1.86%.The company's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Kroger's payout ratio is 35.53%.

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.

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