Gabriel Arreaga Sells 15,959 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 15,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.63, for a total transaction of $1,047,389.17. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,846,648.55. This represents a 15.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $65.38 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $63.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.86. The company has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30, 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 fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $68.51.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,027,979,000 after purchasing an additional 773,182 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Kroger by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,479,000 after purchasing an additional 416,962 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,113,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,060,000 after buying an additional 120,250 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $598,390,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.