Quent Capital LLC Has $574,000 Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,382 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Kroger by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Kroger by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after buying an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $566,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Down 0.4 %

KR stock opened at $65.04 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.93 and its 200-day moving average is $57.57. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $45.17 and a twelve month high of $65.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.97%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on KR. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.