The company’s marketplace stores offer full-service grocery, pharmacy, health and beauty care, and perishable goods, as well as general merchandise, including apparel, home goods, and toys. The price impact warehouse stores provide grocery and health and beauty care items, as well as meat, dairy, baked goods and fresh produce items.
Kroger also manufactures and processes food products for sale in its supermarkets and online, and it sells fuel through 1,613 fuel centers. As of January 29, 2022, the company operated 2,726 supermarkets under various banner names in 35 states and the District of Columbia.
Shareholders currently receive a 2.25% dividend. The $0.26 per share dividend is expected to increase to $0.28.
The BofA Securities target price is $65. Kroger stock has a consensus target of $51.02, and the closing share price on Tuesday was $45.83.
Saul Centers
This dividend-paying real estate investment trust is a strong play in an inflationary environment. Saul Centers Inc. (NYSE: BFS) is a self-managed, self-administered equity REIT headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. It currently operates and manages a real estate portfolio of 60 properties, which includes 50 community and neighborhood shopping centers, seven mixed-use properties with approximately 9.8 million square feet of leasable area, and three land and development properties. Approximately 85% of the Saul Centers’ property operating income is generated by properties in the metropolitan Washington/Baltimore area.
The company posted solid earnings, and large institutional investors have added the shares as expectations going forward have strengthened. Plus, the strong presence in the nation’s capital area is a plus as the economy remains strong due to the omnipresent government spending and high net worth consumers.
The current dividend yield is 6.40%. The expected increase is to $0.60 per share from $0.59.
While B. Riley Securities has a Hold rating on the shares, its $42 target price is higher than the consensus target of $38.00 and Tuesday’s close at $36.87.
Three top companies with stocks rated Buy across Wall Street are expected to lift the dividends they pay to shareholders. Not only is increasing dividends and returning capital to investors important, but it also shows that the company is doing well and has the earnings and cash flow strength to increase the payouts.
Originally published at 24/7 Wall St.
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