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

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 19th,Zacks Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of 0.32 per share on Sunday, December 1st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th.

Kroger has increased its dividend payment by an average of 17.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 19 years. Kroger has a dividend payout ratio of 27.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Kroger to earn $4.64 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 27.6%.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $59.58 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.11 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $60.35.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on KR shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Melius Research began coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at $784,715.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. Corporate insiders own 1.40% 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.