Insider Selling: The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) EVP Sells $2,437,230.00 in Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) EVP Mary Ellen Adcock sold 34,250 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.16, for a total value of $2,437,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 184,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,127,098.68. This trade represents a 15.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Kroger Trading Down 1.6%

KR stock opened at $70.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.82. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.37 and a fifty-two week high of $74.11.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $45.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.35 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 1.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Melius Research upgraded Kroger from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price target on shares of Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Kroger from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.00.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $598,390,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $277,989,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $264,207,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Kroger by 85.3% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,397,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,065,000 after acquiring an additional 2,945,848 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 1st quarter worth $178,385,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.