CINCINNATI, Jan. 31,
2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co.'s (NYSE: KR)
Board of Directors today declared a quarterly dividend of
32 cents per share to be paid on
March 1, 2025, to shareholders of
record as of the close of business on February 14, 2025.
The company's quarterly dividend has grown at a 13.5% compounded
annual growth rate since it was reinstated in 2006. The company
continues to expect, subject to board approval, an increasing
dividend over time.
Kroger's capital allocation strategy is to use its free cash
flow to invest in the business to drive long-term sustainable net
earnings growth while also maintaining its current investment grade
debt rating and returning capital to shareholders. The company
actively balances the use of its 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 Spirit™. We are,
across our family of companies nearly 420,000 associates who serve
over 11 million customers daily through a seamless digital shopping
experience and retail food stores under a variety of banner
names, serving America through food inspiration and uplift, and
creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities. 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 "continues,"
"expect," "goals," and "strategy." 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: 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, and the
aggressiveness of that competition; Kroger's response to these
actions; the state of the economy, including interest rates, the
inflationary, disinflationary and/or deflationary trends and such
trends in certain commodities, products and/or operating costs; the
geopolitical environment including wars and conflicts; 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; supply constraints;
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, along with changes in federal policy and at regulatory
agencies; 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 pillars of fresh, our brands, personalization, and
seamless the outcome of litigation matters, including those
relating to the terminated transaction with Albertsons; and the
risks relating to or arising from our opioid litigation
settlements, including the risk of litigation relating to persons,
entities, or jurisdictions that do not participate in those
settlements . 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.
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SOURCE The Kroger Co.
