1,425 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Purchased by Ethos Financial Group LLC

Ethos Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. increased its stake in Kroger by 1,628.1% in the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 169,559 shares of company stock worth $10,587,476. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KR. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.50.

Kroger Stock Up 4.7 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $66.81 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.95. 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 company has a market cap of $48.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $67.57.

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

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.86%.

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.