Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 262 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 178,255 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $10,900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. increased its position in Kroger by 1,628.1% in the 4th 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 bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $67.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $62.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.15. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $68.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on KR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.94.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.