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

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 31st,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.32 per share on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%.

Kroger has increased its dividend payment by an average of 16.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 18 years. Kroger has a payout ratio of 25.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Kroger to earn $4.75 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 26.9%.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $61.65 on Friday. 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 $44.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.48. Kroger has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $63.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.43 and a 200-day moving average of $57.09.

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

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, January 24th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,965,563.32. The trade was a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.