Adero Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 3,587 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Adero Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% during the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on KR shares. Roth Mkm increased their target price on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $64.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $44.48 and a 1 year high of $65.75. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.31. 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 results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.