Lakeside Advisors INC. Sells 798 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Lakeside Advisors INC. trimmed its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,452 shares of the company’s stock after selling 798 shares during the quarter. Kroger comprises about 1.2% of Lakeside Advisors INC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Lakeside Advisors INC.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of KR. ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 75.2% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 155,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,534,000 after purchasing an additional 66,902 shares during the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Kroger by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 86,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,281,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,000 after buying an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $367,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 32,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KR. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.19.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE KR opened at $64.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.08. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $46.96 and a 52 week high of $66.18.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

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