Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 397 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,441 shares of the company’s stock after selling 397 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the third quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.19.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR stock opened at $63.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.45. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $47.35 and a 12-month high of $66.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Company 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.