Kroger’s (KR) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group reissued their outperform rating on shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR) in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $73.00 price target on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on KR. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.19.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $62.52 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $62.16 and a 200-day moving average of $58.82. The company has a market cap of $45.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Kroger has a one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $66.26.

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

Kroger declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.86%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $320,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,760,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Kroger by 239.0% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 50,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,063,000 after purchasing an additional 35,312 shares during the last quarter. 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.