Yael Cosset Sells 115,149 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Kroger Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE KR traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $66.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,547,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,832,898. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $68.51. 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 firm has a market cap of $48.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average is $62.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.15.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $598,390,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $277,989,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $264,207,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Kroger by 11,570.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,417,000 after buying an additional 2,706,398 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.