Brokerages Set The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) PT at $73.63

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.6316.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus set a $85.00 target price on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays assumed coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR opened at $67.11 on Tuesday. Kroger has a 12 month low of $54.88 and a 12 month high of $74.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The firm has a market cap of $44.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.57.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. Kroger had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 1.86%.The firm had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total transaction of $272,834.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 85,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,147,718.50. This trade represents a 4.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IFC Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the first quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.9% during the second quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.0% during the second quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.3% during the second quarter. Cairn Investment Group Inc. now owns 58,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,225,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Wealth Network Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.9% during the second quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 19,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.