The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Glenview Trust co

Glenview Trust co decreased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,263 shares of the company’s stock after selling 227 shares during the quarter. Glenview Trust co’s holdings in Kroger were worth $322,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Kroger by 11,570.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after buying an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Kroger by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in Kroger by 110.5% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,828,000 after buying an additional 1,876,397 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,581,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 163.1% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,382,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,219,000 after buying an additional 857,008 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on KR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.88.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $66.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.61. 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 firm has a market cap of $48.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $68.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 29,554 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.56, for a total value of $1,967,114.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 103,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,861,803.52. This trade represents a 22.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,040 shares of company stock worth $12,805,838. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.