Gabriel Arreaga Sells 15,959 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 15,959 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.63, for a total transaction of $1,047,389.17. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,846,648.55. The trade was a 15.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Kroger Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $65.38 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.86. The company has a market capitalization of $47.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $68.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire 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.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kroger

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in Kroger by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 8,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 10,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $249,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in Kroger by 49.4% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 24,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 7,989 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

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.