Mitchell Capital Management Co. Acquires Shares of 95,999 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Mitchell Capital Management Co. acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 95,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,870,000. Kroger accounts for about 1.0% of Mitchell Capital Management Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $204,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 7,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 2,492 shares during the period. Finally, Affinity Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $64.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $46.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 2.85 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.61. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $48.21 and a one year high of $66.26.

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 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Kroger Company 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.