Kroger (NYSE:KR) Price Target Increased to $59.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) had its price objective upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $58.00 to $59.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on KR. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an outperform rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised Kroger from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $59.09.

Kroger Stock Up 1.3 %

KR stock opened at $55.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $53.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.62. Kroger has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,087,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,427 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Kroger by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,453,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,653,000 after acquiring an additional 214,852 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Kroger by 5.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,562,000 after acquiring an additional 723,771 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Kroger by 13.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,456,000 after acquiring an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 96.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% 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.