Kroger (NYSE:KR) Hits New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The stock 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 Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim began coverage on Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.80.

Kroger Trading Up 3.9 %

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 $46.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.13.

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

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Kroger by 11,570.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,398 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Kroger by 6.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in Kroger by 110.5% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876,397 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 163.1% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,382,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,219,000 after acquiring an additional 857,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 569.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 812,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,538,000 after purchasing an additional 690,884 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.