The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Receives $68.06 Average PT from Analysts

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.06.

KR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $72,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,473 shares in the company, valued at $754,370.19. This trade represents a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Kroger by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company's stock worth $962,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares in the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $223,000. Finally, Flavin Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $360,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Kroger Stock Down 0.3%

Kroger stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $66.15. 4,653,665 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,726,670. The company has a market cap of $43.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.58. Kroger has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $73.63. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $69.18 and a 200-day moving average of $64.66.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Sell-side analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's payout ratio is 34.88%.

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.