Guggenheim Raises Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target to $71.00

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its price objective boosted by Guggenheim from $68.00 to $71.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.00.

Kroger Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE KR opened at $65.00 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $60.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $44.49 and a fifty-two week high of $65.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KR. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% during the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 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.