Brian W. Nichols Sells 2,000 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Kroger Stock Down 1.8 %

Kroger stock opened at $53.85 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $52.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.51%. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.59%.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 255.6% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 334.3% in the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 101.6% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.64.

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.