The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by OneAscent Financial Services LLC

OneAscent Financial Services LLC raised its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 29.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,632 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KR. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Kroger by 10.6% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 26,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co increased its position in shares of Kroger by 139.2% during the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 7,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 26,639 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $456,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger in the third quarter valued at about $222,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 4.5% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 217,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,449,000 after buying an additional 9,430 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Melius lowered Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Kroger Trading Up 4.9 %

NYSE:KR opened at $70.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, 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 $70.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $64.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.