Corebridge Financial Inc. Sells 7,282 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Corebridge Financial Inc. lowered its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 157,589 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,282 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $9,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Kroger by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth $566,000. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $4,210,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after buying an additional 37,222 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % 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 Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE KR opened at $66.06 on Thursday. 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 Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $68.51. The stock has a market cap of $47.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.16.

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

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on KR shares. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.88.

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.