Farther Finance Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC cut its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,230 shares of the company’s stock after selling 471 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Kroger by 245.2% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in Kroger by 17.8% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 8,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 13.3% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 141.8% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after acquiring an additional 15,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Kroger by 6.2% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,709,000 after acquiring an additional 6,797 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Down 1.5 %

KR stock opened at $65.12 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $47.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $68.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.52. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. On average, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on KR. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective 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. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 160,186 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,001 over the last quarter. 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.