The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Sells $1,967,114.24 in Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 29,554 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.56, for a total transaction of $1,967,114.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 103,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,861,803.52. This trade represents a 22.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR traded up $1.23 on Monday, hitting $66.33. The stock had a trading volume of 1,555,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,819,866. The stock has a market cap of $47.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.52. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $68.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 245.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Kroger by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 8,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 141.8% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 15,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Kroger by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,000 after acquiring an additional 6,797 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on KR. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.88.

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.