The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp

Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lessened its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,903 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,259 shares during the quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $3,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KR. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Kroger by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 342,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,092,000 after buying an additional 28,992 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 17.8% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 121,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,056,000 after acquiring an additional 18,356 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 62.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,000 after acquiring an additional 1,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 7.0% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,140,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,857,000 after acquiring an additional 139,150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 58,821 shares of company stock valued at $3,445,490. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 2.0 %

KR stock opened at $62.06 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $58.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.89. The company has a market capitalization of $44.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $43.51 and a 52 week high of $63.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans 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.