Kroger (NYSE:KR) Given “Underperform” Rating at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas reiterated their underperform rating on shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR) in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $48.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on KR. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and upped their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $54.08.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $55.37 on Monday. Kroger has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $39.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.19.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,863,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Kroger by 82.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,667,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,552,989 shares during the last quarter. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the second quarter valued at approximately $82,523,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,724,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438,626 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter valued at approximately $71,410,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.