The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by Lifeworks Advisors LLC

Lifeworks Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 70.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,525 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,511 shares during the period. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.50.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $66.81 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $67.57. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $62.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.00. The company has a market cap of $48.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 169,559 shares of company stock worth $10,587,476 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.