Insider Selling: The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Sells 132,627 Shares of Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock traded up $0.76 on Monday, reaching $62.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,590,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,716,454. The company has a market cap of $45.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $44.07 and a twelve month high of $63.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $58.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.91.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kroger from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.31.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,795,000 after buying an additional 126,303 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 5.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,562,000 after buying an additional 723,771 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Kroger by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after purchasing an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. 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.