Kroger Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:KR)

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 14,890 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 23% compared to the average volume of 12,123 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on KR. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.80.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $63.32 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Kroger has a 1 year low of $44.48 and a 1 year high of $64.10. The company has a market capitalization of $45.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.13.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kroger

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 11,570.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Kroger by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in Kroger by 110.5% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876,397 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 163.1% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,382,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,219,000 after acquiring an additional 857,008 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Kroger by 569.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 812,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,538,000 after purchasing an additional 690,884 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.