The Kroger Co. (KR) To Go Ex-Dividend on November 15th

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 19th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of 0.32 per share on Sunday, December 1st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th.

Kroger has increased its dividend payment by an average of 17.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 19 consecutive years. Kroger has a dividend payout ratio of 28.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Kroger to earn $4.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.6%.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $55.39 on Friday. Kroger has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $39.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.84.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus increased their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% 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.