Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC Acquires 980 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC grew its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,989 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 980 shares during the quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $427,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Adirondack Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% during the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Kroger in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim began coverage on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.81.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of KR opened at $64.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $44.48 and a 1 year high of $65.75. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.31.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company 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 firm posted $0.95 EPS. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.