Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) – Equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group decreased their Q1 2020 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Kroger in a report released on Sunday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group analyst C. Mandeville now anticipates that the company will earn $0.71 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.73. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for Kroger’s Q3 2020 earnings at $0.52 EPS.
Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Scotiabank set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Kroger and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Kroger from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. TheStreet lowered shares of Kroger from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Kroger from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, ValuEngine upgraded shares of Kroger from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.84.
KR stock opened at $24.66 on Wednesday. Kroger has a 52 week low of $22.44 and a 52 week high of $32.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $19.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.71.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KR. Vanguard Group Inc increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc now owns 65,890,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,918,063,000 after purchasing an additional 660,052 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 57,852,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,590,947,000 after purchasing an additional 2,587,501 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,333,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,680,000 after purchasing an additional 2,485,028 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 20,412,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $502,146,000 after purchasing an additional 361,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,586,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,668 shares in the last quarter. 80.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
In other Kroger news, VP Michael Joseph Donnelly sold 10,916 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.83, for a total transaction of $281,960.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 351,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,068,783.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher T. Hjelm sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.80, for a total transaction of $412,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 282,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,286,668.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 108,416 shares of company stock valued at $2,694,175 over the last quarter. 1.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.54%.
Kroger Company Profile
The Kroger Co operates as a retailer in the United States. The company operates supermarkets, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouse stores. 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.