Kroger (NYSE:KR) PT Lowered to $62.00

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its price objective trimmed by Evercore ISI from $63.00 to $62.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on KR. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas reissued an underperform rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $55.57 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.10 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48. Kroger has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,087,276,000 after buying an additional 1,123,427 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Kroger by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,453,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,653,000 after buying an additional 214,852 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,640,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,872,000 after buying an additional 322,040 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Kroger by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,592,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,546,000 after buying an additional 503,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Kroger by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,922,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,355,000 after buying an additional 535,244 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.