Rothschild Investment LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,894 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 40,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,487,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. BCGM Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,315,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 15,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 9,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 0.8 %

Kroger stock opened at $65.43 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $61.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.41. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $47.15 and a 1-year high of $66.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, 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.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, 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. Seven 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.19.

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.