Kroger Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:KR)

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 24,264 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 76% compared to the average daily volume of 13,777 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 127,106 shares in the company, valued at $8,308,919.22. The trade was a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kroger

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KR. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 20.9% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 7,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Kroger by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 98,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,627,000 after buying an additional 8,139 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Kroger by 53.4% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 16,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $963,000 after buying an additional 5,853 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in Kroger by 20.4% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 34,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after buying an additional 5,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 53.1% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.88.

Kroger Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:KR opened at $66.16 on Friday. Kroger has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $68.51. The firm has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $63.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.21.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Kroger Company Profile

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.