Analysts Set The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) PT at $66.50

Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.50.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KR shares. Melius Research downgraded Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 31,271 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $2,160,200.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 82,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,711,810.72. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 5,541 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total transaction of $392,247.39. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,480 shares in the company, valued at $246,349.20. This trade represents a 61.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 290,056 shares of company stock worth $19,637,066. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 0.9% in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 2.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,113,596 shares of the company's stock worth $863,060,000 after buying an additional 120,250 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $598,390,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,829,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $478,768,000 after acquiring an additional 916,230 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR traded up $2.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $71.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,454,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,412,355. 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 company has a market cap of $47.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $66.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.66. Kroger has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $71.93.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

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.