Hoey Investments Inc. Invests $65,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of KR opened at $66.77 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $68.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This trade represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 127,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,308,919.22. The trade was a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 223,244 shares of company stock valued at $15,001,418 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.