Yael Cosset Sells 17,685 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Yael Cosset sold 17,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.19, for a total value of $1,170,570.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,208,617.56. This represents a 11.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Yael Cosset also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 10th, Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of Kroger stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92.

Kroger Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of KR opened at $65.46 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.37 billion, a PE ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s fifty day moving average is $63.13 and its 200 day moving average is $59.74. 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 Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $68.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KR. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in Kroger by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 8,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 141.8% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after buying an additional 15,130 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.2% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,000 after buying an additional 6,797 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 73.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 86,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,943,000 after acquiring an additional 36,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 390,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,373,000 after acquiring an additional 22,547 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.