Everett Harris & Co. CA Lowers Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Everett Harris & Co. CA trimmed its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 23.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Kroger were worth $795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KR. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Adirondack Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 218.8% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on KR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.80.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $61.65 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.02. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Kroger’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. Corporate 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.