The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock Position Increased by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,695 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 1,628.1% during the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KR. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE KR opened at $64.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $48.21 and a 1-year high of $66.26. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.57.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.