The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Short Interest Update

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 43,350,000 shares, a decline of 7.4% from the January 15th total of 46,810,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,570,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.8 days. Currently, 6.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Kroger by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Kroger by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,479,000 after buying an additional 416,962 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $598,390,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR traded down $0.43 on Monday, hitting $65.20. 3,856,622 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,873,737. The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.36 and a 200-day moving average of $57.88. Kroger has a 12-month low of $45.88 and a 12-month high of $66.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. Kroger’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.19.

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.