Brokerages Set The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Price Target at $66.88

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.88.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KR. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th.

Kroger Stock Down 1.5 %

Kroger stock opened at $64.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. Kroger has a 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $68.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.12. The company has a market cap of $46.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total value of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,523.90. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 18,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in Kroger by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.