The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Crew Capital Management Ltd.

Crew Capital Management Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,475 shares of the company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Crew Capital Management Ltd.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% during the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 company’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 value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Up 0.5 %

KR opened at $63.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.79. The company has a market cap of $45.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $66.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

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. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication 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.