Telsey Advisory Group Reiterates Outperform Rating for Kroger (NYSE:KR)

Telsey Advisory Group restated their outperform rating on shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Telsey Advisory Group currently has a $82.00 target price on the stock.

KR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Melius Research raised shares of Kroger from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Kroger and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.58.

Kroger Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $67.28 on Thursday. Kroger has a 1 year low of $51.52 and a 1 year high of $74.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.84. The stock has a market cap of $44.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.89% and a return on equity of 34.71%. The company had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 16,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.79, for a total transaction of $1,215,690.25. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 49,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,642,274.40. The trade was a 25.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 37,960 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.44, for a total transaction of $2,749,822.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 75,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,448,791.92. The trade was a 33.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 198,948 shares of company stock valued at $14,422,926. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kroger during the second quarter worth about $518,267,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $277,989,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Kroger by 85.3% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,397,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,065,000 after acquiring an additional 2,945,848 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the first quarter worth about $178,385,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in Kroger by 101.7% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 4,084,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,485,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059,574 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.