Sherman Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sherman Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,000.

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

Kroger Stock Up 1.4 %

Kroger stock opened at $64.81 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $48.21 and a fifty-two week high of $66.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company has a market capitalization of $46.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.61.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The business 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 in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.