Peoples Bank OH Reduces Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Peoples Bank OH lowered its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,333 shares of the company’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. Peoples Bank OH’s holdings in Kroger were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. ING Groep NV raised its holdings in Kroger by 75.2% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 155,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,534,000 after purchasing an additional 66,902 shares in the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 86,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advyzon Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $367,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:KR opened at $64.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.96 and a fifty-two week high of $66.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.08.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized 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 repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

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.