12,343 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Bought by RWA Wealth Partners LLC

RWA Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 12,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Kroger by 10.6% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 26,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 205,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,761,000 after acquiring an additional 13,761 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at $416,000. Tradition Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the third quarter worth $225,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 139.2% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 7,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 26,639 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total value of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total value of $719,070.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 127,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,308,919.22. This trade represents a 7.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $67.77 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.52. 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 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $68.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

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 company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. As a group, research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.