Kroger (NYSE:KR) Upgraded to “Overweight” by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger (NYSE:KR) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $65.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $58.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on KR. BNP Paribas restated an underperform rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $55.17.

Kroger Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:KR opened at $56.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48. Kroger has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $53.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.83.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. Kroger’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. SouthState Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 334.3% in the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 370.1% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 496 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.