Sigma Planning Corp Has $1.57 Million Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sigma Planning Corp reduced its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,624 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,981 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.8% in 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after purchasing an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $566,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KR. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.19.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. The trade was a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 1.0 %

KR stock opened at $65.03 on Monday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $47.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $46.96 and a 1-year high of $66.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.26.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.86%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.