Kroger (NYSE:KR) Downgraded to "Buy" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has downgraded Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating, indicating a shift in analyst sentiment towards the stock.
• Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan have recently updated their target prices for Kroger, raising them to $67.00 and $82.00 respectively, with these institutions maintaining hold and overweight ratings.
• Kroger reported $1.49 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, but revenue fell slightly by 0.3% year-over-year.

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

KR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Melius Research upgraded shares of Kroger from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price target on shares of Kroger and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Kroger from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $70.16.

Kroger Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:KR traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $71.56. 5,493,657 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,118,204. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.48. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $50.69 and a fifty-two week high of $74.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92. The company has a market capitalization of $47.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.89% and a return on equity of 34.71%. The firm had revenue of $45.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.43 EPS. Kroger's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Kroger's payout ratio is currently 38.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 16,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.79, for a total value of $1,215,690.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 49,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,642,274.40. This represents a 25.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mary Ellen Adcock sold 34,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.16, for a total transaction of $2,437,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 184,473 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,127,098.68. The trade was a 15.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 198,948 shares of company stock worth $14,422,926. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KR. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 6,840.0% in the 2nd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 10,425.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 421 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.