The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Gabriel Arreaga Sells 15,959 Shares

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) SVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 15,959 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.63, for a total transaction of $1,047,389.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,085 shares in the company, valued at $5,846,648.55. This trade represents a 15.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Kroger Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE KR traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $65.00. 1,709,098 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,840,839. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.95. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $68.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $47.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

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Kroger Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company's stock worth $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the third quarter worth about $566,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $4,210,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on KR. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.88.

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.