The Kroger Co. (KR) To Go Ex-Dividend on August 15th

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 27th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of 1.28 per share on Sunday, September 1st. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29.

Kroger has raised its dividend payment by an average of 17.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 18 years. Kroger has a dividend payout ratio of 25.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Kroger to earn $4.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.1%.

Kroger Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $49.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a fifty day moving average of $53.06 and a 200 day moving average of $50.88. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.30.

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.