PDS Planning Inc Increases Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

PDS Planning Inc raised its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,282 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,174 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Kroger were worth $445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 21,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after buying an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 23,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after buying an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 262,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,027,000 after buying an additional 34,585 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This trade represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 213,217 shares of company stock worth $14,275,261. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR opened at $65.94 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $47.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $68.51.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.