Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Decreases Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC cut its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,665 shares of the company’s stock after selling 280 shares during the quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Kroger by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 602,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,824,000 after buying an additional 97,647 shares during the last quarter. Millington Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $1,587,000. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 40,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,487,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 0.2 %

KR stock opened at $63.91 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $48.21 and a 12-month high of $66.26. The business’s 50-day moving average is $62.02 and its 200 day moving average is $58.49. 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 market cap of $46.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Seven 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

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.