Valerie L. Jabbar Sells 3,000 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:KR opened at $56.60 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.32, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.89.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KR. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.4% in the first quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 13,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $778,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Kroger by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $826,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in Kroger by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. W Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 32,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,878,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 4,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.36.

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.