The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Short Interest Update

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 43,350,000 shares, a decrease of 7.4% from the January 15th total of 46,810,000 shares. Currently, 6.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 5,570,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.8 days.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,027,979,000 after purchasing an additional 773,182 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,479,000 after acquiring an additional 416,962 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,113,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,060,000 after acquiring an additional 120,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $598,390,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.19.

Kroger Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:KR traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $65.20. 3,856,622 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,873,737. The firm has a market cap of $47.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. Kroger has a 52-week low of $45.88 and a 52-week high of $66.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

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

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.