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

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, February 3rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th.

Kroger has raised its dividend by an average of 16.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 18 years. Kroger has a dividend payout ratio of 25.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $63.32 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. Kroger has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $64.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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

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.