Kroger (NYSE:KR) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Kroger (NYSE:KR) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.300-4.500 EPS and its FY25 guidance to $4.30-4.50 EPS.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $55.91 on Friday. Kroger has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The firm has a market cap of $40.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $53.38 and a 200 day moving average of $53.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.