Todd A. Foley Sells 28,105 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Kroger Trading Down 2.3 %

KR opened at $65.01 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $68.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.29.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KR. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 18,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.