Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $351,000 Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

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

Kroger Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $65.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $68.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.74 and a 200-day moving average of $59.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

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

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 160,186 shares of company stock worth $10,752,001. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KR. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

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.