Family Firm Inc. Purchases Shares of 3,479 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Zevin Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Zevin Asset Management LLC now owns 203,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,457,000 after buying an additional 18,557 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 291,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,797,000 after purchasing an additional 10,017 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its position in Kroger by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 10,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 160,186 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,001 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.88.

Kroger Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $65.12 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $68.51. 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 company has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

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.