Kroger’s (KR) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Telsey Advisory Group

Telsey Advisory Group restated their outperform rating on shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR) in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Telsey Advisory Group currently has a $62.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on KR. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reissued an underperform rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $55.17.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR opened at $55.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.48. Kroger has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $54.08 and a 200-day moving average of $48.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 4,810.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,955,000 after purchasing an additional 556,266 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Kroger by 4.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 284,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,715,000 after purchasing an additional 11,707 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Kroger by 49.3% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 115,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,165,000 after purchasing an additional 38,119 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 156,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,143,000 after purchasing an additional 17,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Kroger by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,647,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,175,000 after purchasing an additional 115,264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.