Clune & Associates LTD. Invests $733,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Clune & Associates LTD. purchased a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KR. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,523.90. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 15,959 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.63, for a total value of $1,047,389.17. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,846,648.55. This represents a 15.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 212,244 shares of company stock worth $14,282,348. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group increased their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:KR opened at $65.38 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $63.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.95. The company has a market capitalization of $47.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $68.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.