Kroger (NYSE:KR) Updates FY25 Earnings Guidance

Kroger (NYSE:KR) issued an update on its FY25 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $4.30-4.50 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44. Kroger also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.300-4.500 EPS.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $51.50 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.55. The company has a market capitalization of $37.17 billion, a PE ratio of 17.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.47. Kroger has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KR. BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus upped their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Kroger from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $58.64.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Kroger

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.