Kroger (NYSE:KR) Rating Increased to Hold at Melius

Melius upgraded shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $70.00 target price on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Kroger from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.06.

Kroger Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of KR opened at $69.49 on Tuesday. Kroger has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $73.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.02. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $72,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $754,370.19. The trade was a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KR. IFC Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 1.7% in the first quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 8,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 18,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 8,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.