The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Gryphon Financial Partners LLC

Gryphon Financial Partners LLC cut its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,064 shares of the company’s stock after selling 268 shares during the quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.19.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE KR opened at $62.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. 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 $49.00 and a 12 month high of $66.26. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.72.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.