The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) to Issue Dividend Increase - $0.35 Per Share

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 26th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of 0.35 per share on Monday, September 1st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. This is a 9.4% increase from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32.

Kroger has a payout ratio of 24.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Kroger to earn $4.72 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 27.1%.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $72.66 on Thursday. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $74.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.47. The company has a market capitalization of $48.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.58.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $45.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $45.35 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 1.76%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. Analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 127,737 shares in the company, valued at $8,870,057.28. The trade was a 19.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Yael Cosset sold 71,224 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total transaction of $5,234,251.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 139,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,224,222.76. This trade represents a 33.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 207,793 shares of company stock worth $14,938,358. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Kroger stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 27.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,733 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,373 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on KR. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price objective on Kroger and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $74.00 price target (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.00.

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.

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