Heritage Trust Co Buys New Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Heritage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 26,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,609,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $67.90 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $71.93. The company has a market cap of $44.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.25.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.44, for a total value of $2,083,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 127,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,870,057.28. This represents a 19.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,308,919.22. This trade represents a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 258,785 shares of company stock valued at $17,476,866. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Melius Research lowered Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius cut shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

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.