Peoples Bank OH Reduces Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Peoples Bank OH lowered its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,333 shares of the company’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. Peoples Bank OH’s holdings in Kroger were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. ING Groep NV raised its position in shares of Kroger by 75.2% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 155,911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,534,000 after purchasing an additional 66,902 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 86,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. Finally, Advyzon Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $367,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Seven equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $64.41 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $46.96 and a one year high of $66.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.86%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 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.