Traders Purchase Large Volume of Kroger Call Options (NYSE:KR)

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 18,583 call options on the company. This is an increase of 47% compared to the average daily volume of 12,639 call options.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of Kroger 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total value of $368,445.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,615,091.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,767 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,427 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Kroger by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,453,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,653,000 after purchasing an additional 214,852 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Kroger by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,592,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,546,000 after buying an additional 503,839 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $229,863,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,610,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,739,000 after buying an additional 118,209 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on KR shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.30.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $50.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.83 and a 200-day moving average of $51.06. Kroger has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $36.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The business had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 EPS. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $1.28 dividend. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 39.59%.

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.