The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.32

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 3rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.32 per share on Saturday, March 1st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th.

Kroger has raised its dividend payment by an average of 16.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 18 consecutive years. Kroger has a payout ratio of 25.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Kroger to earn $4.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.9%.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock traded up $1.68 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $63.32. The company had a trading volume of 6,986,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,205,222. The firm has a market cap of $45.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $60.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.13. Kroger has a one year low of $44.48 and a one year high of $64.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KR. Bank of America upped their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.80.

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.