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

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 31st,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.32 per share on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%.

Kroger has raised its dividend by an average of 16.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 18 consecutive years. Kroger has a dividend payout ratio of 25.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:KR traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $61.65. 4,468,549 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,157,019. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59. 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 firm has a market cap of $44.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.02.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.