The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.32

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 19th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.32 per share on Sunday, December 1st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th.

Kroger has raised its dividend payment by an average of 17.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 19 consecutive years. Kroger has a dividend payout ratio of 28.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Kroger to earn $4.63 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 27.6%.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $55.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Kroger has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $53.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.84.

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

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the business’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 value of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.09.

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.