Evercore ISI Cuts Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target to $62.00

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its target price cut by Evercore ISI from $63.00 to $62.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

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

Kroger Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $55.57 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Kroger has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. The stock 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 (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KR. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $229,863,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 82.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,667,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,552,989 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Kroger by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,724,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,438,626 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth approximately $71,410,000. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,427 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.