Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $17.80 Million Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 291,034 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,017 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $17,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Kroger by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 8,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 141.8% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after buying an additional 15,130 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 117,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,709,000 after buying an additional 6,797 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 73.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 86,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,943,000 after buying an additional 36,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 390,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,373,000 after acquiring an additional 22,547 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,040 shares of company stock valued at $12,805,838 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KR. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim upped their price target on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.88.

Kroger Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of KR opened at $66.40 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $68.51. The stock has a market cap of $48.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $62.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

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

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Kroger 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.