The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Nwam LLC

Nwam LLC lowered its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,911 shares of the company’s stock after selling 261 shares during the quarter. Nwam LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of KR. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% in the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $64.81 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $62.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.57. 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 $46.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $48.21 and a 1-year high of $66.26.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.19.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger 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.