Kroger (NYSE:KR) Given New $73.00 Price Target at Telsey Advisory Group

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its price objective lifted by Telsey Advisory Group from $70.00 to $73.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.19.

Kroger Stock Down 0.2 %

KR opened at $65.66 on Thursday. Kroger has a 12 month low of $45.17 and a 12 month high of $66.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.86%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kroger by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,027,979,000 after buying an additional 773,182 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,479,000 after purchasing an additional 416,962 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $598,390,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,054,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,259 shares during the period. 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.