Carin L. Fike Sells 3,010 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Kroger Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of KR traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $55.03. 1,479,692 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,969,225. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $53.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.78. The company has a market capitalization of $39.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on KR. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.09.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,380,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,115,000 after acquiring an additional 261,368 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Kroger by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,882,000 after purchasing an additional 129,873 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in Kroger by 82.2% during the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 59,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $671,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.