Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target Raised to $65.00

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Citigroup from $61.00 to $65.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on KR. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.50.

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Kroger Trading Up 4.7 %

Shares of NYSE:KR traded up $3.03 on Friday, hitting $66.81. The company had a trading volume of 10,791,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,868,815. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $62.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.00. Kroger has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $67.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $34.96 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 169,559 shares of company stock valued at $10,587,476. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in Kroger by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 18,045 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in Kroger by 2.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in Kroger by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in Kroger by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in Kroger by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company's stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

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.