Kroger (NYSE:KR) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on KR. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 9th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Kroger from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kroger to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $59.09.

Kroger Trading Up 0.4 %

Kroger stock opened at $54.83 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $53.60 and its 200-day moving average is $53.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. Kroger has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The company has a market cap of $39.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,427 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,453,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,653,000 after purchasing an additional 214,852 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,562,000 after purchasing an additional 723,771 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Kroger by 13.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,456,000 after acquiring an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Kroger by 96.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.