Traders Purchase Large Volume of Kroger Call Options (NYSE:KR)

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 24,264 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 76% compared to the average volume of 13,777 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KR. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.88.

Kroger Price Performance

KR traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $66.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,456,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,844,597. Kroger has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $68.51. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.16. The company has a market capitalization of $48.08 billion, a PE ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Equities research analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 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.