Rik Saylor Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 4,512 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Rik Saylor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $276,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adirondack Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter worth $43,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim began coverage on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $65.37 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $47.30 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $44.48 and a 52-week high of $65.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $60.56 and a 200-day moving average of $57.25.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

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

About Kroger

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.