Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target Raised to $73.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

KR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Melius Research assumed coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Kroger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BNP Paribas started coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.31.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $63.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. Kroger has a 1 year low of $43.51 and a 1 year high of $63.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.81.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,821 shares of company stock valued at $3,445,490. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.