Kroger (NYSE:KR) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Dividend Announcement

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $63.95 and last traded at $64.07, with a volume of 2738010 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.64.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.06.

Kroger Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $46.33 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Kroger by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after acquiring an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $566,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.