Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Buys 83,336 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 907.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,517 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,336 shares during the period. Kroger makes up approximately 1.6% of Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $5,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Adirondack Trust Co. grew its position in Kroger by 1,628.1% during the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KR. UBS Group increased their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.19.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $65.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.75. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $45.88 and a 12 month high of $66.18.

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

Kroger announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

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.