Christine S. Wheatley Sells 30,000 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.44, for a total value of $2,083,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 127,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,870,057.28. This trade represents a 19.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Kroger Stock Down 0.2 %

Kroger stock opened at $66.34 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $65.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $48.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $71.93.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Citigroup lifted their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Melius Research cut Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors 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.