Kroger (NYSE:KR) Trading Up 4.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) traded up 4.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $71.00 to $73.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. Kroger traded as high as $70.61 and last traded at $70.40. 3,462,922 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 5,106,531 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.27.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Melius downgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.50.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KR. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $51.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.