The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. lowered its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,228 shares of the company’s stock after selling 983 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in KR. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 25.5% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 212,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,170,000 after purchasing an additional 43,143 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 88.7% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 103,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,953,000 after purchasing an additional 48,843 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 6.9% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the third quarter valued at $291,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 4,697.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 448,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,682,000 after purchasing an additional 438,856 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, 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 a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

Kroger stock opened at $65.03 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $61.71 and its 200-day moving average is $58.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $46.96 and a 1 year high of $66.18. The company has a market cap of $47.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Kroger announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

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.