Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Cuts Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 22,666 shares of the company’s stock after selling 498 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Kroger by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,795,000 after acquiring an additional 126,303 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after acquiring an additional 37,222 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,035,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,935,000 after purchasing an additional 144,845 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Kroger by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, 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 a total of 212,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,282,348 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KR. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $65.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $68.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $63.37 and its 200 day moving average is $59.86.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

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.