Kroger Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:KR)

The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 24,264 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 76% compared to the average volume of 13,777 call options.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total value of $719,070.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 127,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,308,919.22. This represents a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 223,244 shares of company stock valued at $15,001,418. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. 111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $591,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 282,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,302,000 after purchasing an additional 122,680 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 22,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on KR. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.88.

Kroger Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:KR traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $66.45. 1,456,123 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,844,597. Kroger has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $68.51. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $48.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.16.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. As a group, research analysts expect that Kroger will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.