The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,289 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group raised its position in shares of Kroger by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 5,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $65.66 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.70. The company has a market cap of $47.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.17 and a fifty-two week high of $66.18.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released 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. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on KR. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’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 transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.