CoreFirst Bank & Trust Makes New Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Clune & Associates LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $733,000. CMC Financial Group purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $240,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Kroger by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,027,979,000 after acquiring an additional 773,182 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $1,810,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 505,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,936,000 after purchasing an additional 7,935 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR opened at $64.39 on Wednesday. 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 $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $68.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.12. The company has a market capitalization of $46.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 yield of 1.99%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.