The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) to Issue $0.32 Quarterly Dividend

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 3rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.32 per share on Saturday, March 1st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th.

Kroger has increased its dividend by an average of 16.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 18 consecutive years. Kroger has a payout ratio of 25.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Kroger to earn $4.75 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 26.9%.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $64.03 on Wednesday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.19. Kroger has a 52 week low of $44.48 and a 52 week high of $64.90. The stock has a market cap of $46.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven research 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.06.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.