Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Kroger Call Options (NYSE:KR)

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 29,317 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 151% compared to the typical daily volume of 11,696 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 255.6% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 101.6% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $51.50 on Thursday. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $37.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.64.

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.