Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Purchases 244 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,964 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $67.57 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $62.40 and its 200 day moving average is $59.15. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $68.51. The company has a market capitalization of $48.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.94.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, 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. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.