Millington Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Millington Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 25,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,587,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 25.5% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 212,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,170,000 after acquiring an additional 43,143 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 88.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 103,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,953,000 after acquiring an additional 48,843 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4,697.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 448,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,682,000 after acquiring an additional 438,856 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 52.2% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,000 after acquiring an additional 5,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 14.1% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 141,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,091,000 after acquiring an additional 17,500 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.4 %

Kroger stock opened at $64.80 on Tuesday. 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 Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $47.15 and a 12 month high of $66.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.33. The firm has a market cap of $46.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

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.