Arjuna Capital Lowers Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Arjuna Capital cut its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 94,334 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,210 shares during the quarter. Kroger makes up about 1.5% of Arjuna Capital’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Kroger were worth $5,769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. State Street Corp boosted its position in Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,795,000 after purchasing an additional 126,303 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,246,000 after buying an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,035,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,935,000 after buying an additional 144,845 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Kroger by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Up 4.7 %

KR opened at $66.81 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.95. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $67.57. The stock has a market cap of $48.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. As a group, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 169,559 shares of company stock valued at $10,587,476. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.50.

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.