The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $74.50.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Roth Capital raised Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Argus set a $85.00 price target on Kroger in a report on Thursday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down from $82.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Kroger from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 6,840.0% during the 2nd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $66.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.33. Kroger has a 52-week low of $57.69 and a 52-week high of $74.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.95.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

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.