Valerie L. Jabbar Sells 15,000 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Kroger Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of KR opened at $55.91 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $54.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $40.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. Kroger’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $229,863,000. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after buying an additional 1,123,427 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $42,220,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $39,619,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Kroger by 378.8% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 765,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,988,000 after purchasing an additional 605,591 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on KR. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.17.

Kroger Company Profile

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.