Kroger (NYSE:KR) Earns Buy Rating from Guggenheim

Kroger (NYSE:KR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities researchers at Guggenheim in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $78.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim’s price objective points to a potential upside of 14.07% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Melius upgraded shares of Kroger from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Roth Capital increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.58.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $68.38 on Friday. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $54.51 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90. The stock has a market cap of $45.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.35, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.89.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The business had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. The firm’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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 16,475 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.79, for a total value of $1,215,690.25. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 37,960 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.44, for a total transaction of $2,749,822.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 75,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,448,791.92. This represents a 33.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 198,948 shares of company stock worth $14,422,926 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $850,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in Kroger by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 307,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,834,000 after purchasing an additional 24,849 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 8,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 67.2% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.