Insider Selling: The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) VP Sells 4,492 Shares of Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) VP Carin L. Fike sold 4,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.53, for a total value of $298,852.76. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,524.40. This represents a 56.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $65.94 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.99 and a 200 day moving average of $59.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $47.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $68.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Kroger by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,027,979,000 after purchasing an additional 773,182 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Kroger by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,479,000 after acquiring an additional 416,962 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,113,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,060,000 after acquiring an additional 120,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $598,390,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on KR. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

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.