Carin L. Fike Sells 4,492 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) VP Carin L. Fike sold 4,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.53, for a total value of $298,852.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,524.40. This trade represents a 56.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $66.24. 2,443,260 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,821,525. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $68.51. The firm has a market cap of $47.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.54, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.86 and a 200 day moving average of $59.61.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors 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 repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $598,390,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $277,989,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $264,207,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Kroger by 11,570.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,706,398 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Kroger by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.