Morgan Stanley Lowers Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target to $57.00

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $57.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, BNP Paribas restated an underperform rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $57.30.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR opened at $49.37 on Monday. Kroger has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $35.63 billion, a PE ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $53.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.86.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $1.28 dividend. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.37%. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,767 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S acquired a new position in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in Kroger by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,427 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,220,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,619,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.