Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 127,821 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,433,595 shares of the company’s stock after selling 127,821 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.61% of Kroger worth $271,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $63.71 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $61.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.45. The stock has a market cap of $46.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $47.35 and a 52 week high of $66.26. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 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.