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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Kroger Stock Up 0.6 %

KR opened at $54.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $52.09 and its 200 day moving average is $51.86. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.49, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $1.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.45%. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s payout ratio is 39.59%.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 4,810.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,955,000 after buying an additional 556,266 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 3,212 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,380,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,115,000 after buying an additional 261,368 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,882,000 after buying an additional 129,873 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $671,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.