The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $52.33.

Several analysts have issued reports on KR shares. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Kroger from $56.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 11th. 3M reiterated a “maintains” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, June 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Kroger from $51.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, June 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 23,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.46, for a total transaction of $1,045,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 194,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,862,699.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 78.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Trading Up 1.2 %

Kroger stock opened at $46.32 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $33.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.48. Kroger has a 1 year low of $41.81 and a 1 year high of $50.41. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, September 8th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 30.61% and a net margin of 1.10%. The business had revenue of $33.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 15th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.79%.

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.