The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Valerie L. Jabbar Sells 15,000 Shares

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.99. 1,799,247 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,923,953. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $40.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Kroger’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.17.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KR. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at $1,112,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Kroger by 275.7% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 102,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,881,000 after acquiring an additional 75,543 shares in the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 93.9% during the first quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 7,559 shares during the period. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at $262,000. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger in the 1st quarter worth $270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

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.