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

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 31st,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.32 per share on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%.

Kroger has raised its dividend payment by an average of 16.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 18 years. Kroger has a payout ratio of 25.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Price Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $61.65 on Friday. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.11.

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

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value 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. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.80.

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.