The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Valerie L. Jabbar Sells 3,000 Shares

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR traded down $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $55.91. The company had a trading volume of 483,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,968,271. The company has a market cap of $40.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $53.74 and its 200 day moving average is $53.89. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Maj Invest Holding A S acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter valued at about $185,913,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 698.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,307 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Kroger by 13.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after buying an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on KR. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Argus boosted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Melius Research assumed coverage on Kroger in a research report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.36.

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.