The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.39

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Saturday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.39 per share on Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This is a 11.4% increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35.

Kroger has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 19 years. Kroger has a payout ratio of 27.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Kroger to earn $5.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.2%.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $57.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.97, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.43, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.11. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $55.60 and a fifty-two week high of $76.58.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $46.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.59 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 44.33% and a net margin of 0.71%.Kroger’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.49 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.100-5.30 EPS. Analysts expect that Kroger will post 5.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KR. Erste Group Bank lowered Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group set a $63.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, June 19th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group set a $78.00 price target on Kroger and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.94.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) is one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States, offering a wide range of retail grocery and related services. Founded in Cincinnati in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company operates a portfolio of supermarket and multi-department store banners and provides customers with fresh foods, packaged groceries, deli and bakery items, meat and seafood, produce, and prepared foods. Kroger’s stores commonly include pharmacy services and fuel centers, positioning the company as a broad-based neighborhood retail destination for everyday needs.

In addition to traditional in-store retailing, Kroger manufactures and distributes a variety of private-label brands and operates its own food production and supply-chain facilities.