The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KRGet Free Report) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.00.

Several analysts have issued reports on KR shares. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Kroger from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Kroger from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Kroger

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KR. Allstate Corp lifted its stake in Kroger by 108.5% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 47,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,998,000 after acquiring an additional 24,976 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Kroger by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,169,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,821,546,000 after acquiring an additional 868,529 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. grew its stake in Kroger by 10,178.7% during the 4th quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 507,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,706,000 after acquiring an additional 502,522 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 894,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,946,000 after purchasing an additional 209,264 shares during the period. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,299,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $57.82 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43. The firm has a market cap of $35.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.36. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $54.15 and a fifty-two week high of $76.58.

Kroger (NYSE:KRGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.01). Kroger had a return on equity of 44.33% and a net margin of 0.71%.The company had revenue of $46.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kroger will post 5.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.35%.

Key Stories Impacting Kroger

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

Kroger Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) is one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States, offering a wide range of retail grocery and related services. Founded in Cincinnati in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company operates a portfolio of supermarket and multi-department store banners and provides customers with fresh foods, packaged groceries, deli and bakery items, meat and seafood, produce, and prepared foods. Kroger’s stores commonly include pharmacy services and fuel centers, positioning the company as a broad-based neighborhood retail destination for everyday needs.

In addition to traditional in-store retailing, Kroger manufactures and distributes a variety of private-label brands and operates its own food production and supply-chain facilities.

Read More

Analyst Recommendations for Kroger (NYSE:KR)

Receive News & Ratings for Kroger Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kroger and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.