WoodTrust Financial Corp Has $6.06 Million Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99,026 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,644 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $6,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. lifted 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 valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.19.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock opened at $63.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $62.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.79. 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 Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $66.26.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.