Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Buys 505 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,287 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Adirondack Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% in the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $65.03 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $61.77 and a 200-day moving average of $58.26. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $46.96 and a one year high of $66.18. 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 stock has a market cap of $47.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its 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 return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business 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 business earned $0.95 EPS. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.