Kroger (NYSE:KR) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Kroger (NYSE:KR) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

KR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $66.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, September 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.50.

Kroger Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of KR stock opened at $68.06 on Friday. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $55.60 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $67.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $45.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.57.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 32.62% and a net margin of 1.86%.Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Kroger by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,299,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,863,000 after purchasing an additional 186,302 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth $518,267,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,945,848 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 0.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,067,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $342,999,000 after buying an additional 31,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Kroger by 6.0% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,680,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,843,000 after buying an additional 265,127 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is 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.