Insider Selling: The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Sells 115,149 Shares of Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Kroger Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Kroger stock traded down $1.16 on Tuesday, reaching $66.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,547,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,832,898. The company has a market capitalization of $48.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $68.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.15.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KR. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $320,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $120,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $49,760,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% 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.