Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC increased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,037 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 273 shares during the quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Kroger by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Kroger by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after acquiring an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after acquiring an additional 36,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth about $566,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $63.23 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $62.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.79. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $66.26. The company has a market cap of $45.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73, 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 quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

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

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective 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. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

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.