CINCINNATI, June 23,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co's (NYSE: KR) Board
of Directors approved a dividend increase from $0.84 to $1.04 per
year. The next quarterly dividend of 26
cents per share will be paid on September 1, 2022, to shareholders of record as
of close of business on August 15,
2022.
Kroger's quarterly dividend has grown at a 14% compounded annual
growth rate since it was reinstated in 2006. This marks the
16th consecutive year of dividend increases. The company
continues to expect, subject to board approval, an increasing
dividend over time.
"This dividend increase reflects the Board of Directors'
confidence in our strategy of Leading with Fresh, Accelerating
with Digital," said Rodney
McMullen, Kroger's Chairman and CEO. "Our business continues
to generate strong and consistent free cash flow and has proven to
be resilient in a variety of operating environments. The strength
of our balance sheet provides significant financial flexibility to
continue to invest in our business to drive growth. Looking ahead,
we are well positioned to deliver total shareholder returns of 8 –
11% over time."
Capital Allocation Strategy
Kroger remains committed
to investing in the business to drive long-term sustainable net
earnings growth, maintaining its current investment grade debt
rating, and returning excess free cash flow to shareholders via
share repurchase and a growing dividend over time. The company
actively balances the use of its adjusted free cash flow to achieve
these goals.
About Kroger
At The Kroger Co.
(NYSE: KR), we are dedicated to our Purpose: to Feed the Human
Spiritâ„¢. We are, across our family of companies, nearly half a
million associates who serve over nine million customers daily
through a seamless digital shopping experience and 2,800 retail
food stores under a variety of banner names, serving America
through food inspiration and uplift, and creating
#ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us,
visit our newsroom and investor relations site.
This press release contains certain statements that constitute
"forward-looking statements" about the future performance of the
company. These statements are based on management's assumptions and
beliefs in light of the information currently available to it. Such
statements are indicated by words or phrases such as," "continue,"
"deliver," "expect," "future," "positioned," "strategy," and
"trends," Various uncertainties and other factors could cause
actual results to differ materially from those contained in the
forward-looking statements. These include the specific risk factors
identified in "Risk Factors" in our annual report on Form 10-K for
our last fiscal year and any subsequent filings, as well as the
following:
Kroger's ability to achieve sales, earnings, incremental FIFO
operating profit, and adjusted free cash flow goals may be affected
by: COVID-19 pandemic related factors, risks and challenges,
including among others, the length of time that the pandemic
continues, future variants, mutations or related strains of the
virus and the effectiveness of vaccines against variants, continued
efficacy of vaccines over time and availability of vaccine
boosters, the extent of vaccine refusal, and global access to
vaccines, as well as the effect of vaccine and/or testing
mandates and related regulations, the potential for additional
future spikes in infection and illness rates including breakthrough
infections among the fully vaccinated, and the corresponding
potential for disruptions in workforce availability and customer
shopping patterns, re-imposed restrictions as a result of
resurgence and the corresponding future easing of restrictions, and
interruptions in domestic and global supply chains or capacity
constraints; whether and when the global pandemic will become
endemic, the pace of recovery when the pandemic subsides or becomes
endemic, which may vary materially over time and among the
different regions we serve; labor negotiations; potential work
stoppages; changes in the unemployment rate; pressures in the labor
market; changes in government-funded benefit programs; changes in
the types and numbers of businesses that compete with Kroger;
pricing and promotional activities of existing and new competitors,
including non-traditional competitors, and the aggressiveness of
that competition; Kroger's response to these actions; the state of
the economy, including interest rates, the current inflationary
environment and future potential inflationary and/or deflationary
trends and such trends in certain commodities, products and/or
operating costs; the geopolitical environment including the war in
Ukraine; unstable political
situations and social unrest; changes in tariffs; the effect that
fuel costs have on consumer spending; volatility of fuel margins;
manufacturing commodity costs; diesel fuel costs related to
Kroger's logistics operations; trends in consumer spending; the
extent to which Kroger's customers exercise caution in their
purchasing in response to economic conditions; the uncertainty of
economic growth or recession; stock repurchases; changes in the
regulatory environment in which Kroger operates; Kroger's ability
to retain pharmacy sales from third party payors; consolidation in
the healthcare industry, including pharmacy benefit managers;
Kroger's ability to negotiate modifications to multi-employer
pension plans; natural disasters or adverse weather conditions; the
effect of public health crises or other significant catastrophic
events; the potential costs and risks associated with potential
cyber-attacks or data security breaches; the success of Kroger's
future growth plans; the ability to execute our growth strategy and
value creation model, including continued cost savings, growth of
our alternative profit businesses, and our ability to better serve
our customers and to generate customer loyalty and sustainable
growth through our strategic moats of fresh, our brands,
personalization, and seamless; and the successful integration of
merged companies and new partnerships. Our ability to achieve these
goals may also be affected by our ability to manage the factors
identified above. Our ability to execute our financial strategy may
be affected by our ability to generate cash flow.
Kroger assumes no obligation to update the information contained
herein unless required by applicable law. Please refer to Kroger's
reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for
a further discussion of these risks and uncertainties.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kroger-board-of-directors-raises-quarterly-dividend-by-24-301574039.html
SOURCE The Kroger Co.