The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Sells $832,800.00 in Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR opened at $55.49 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $54.24 and its 200-day moving average is $48.24. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The firm has a market cap of $40.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caas Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth $306,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 21.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 6,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Opus Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Opus Capital Group LLC now owns 4,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the period. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth $225,000. Finally, SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 25,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,449,000 after buying an additional 1,939 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on KR. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.17.

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.