Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,794 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,553 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 245.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 2,817 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in Kroger by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 8,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 53.9% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 3,869 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 6,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 160,186 shares of company stock worth $10,752,001 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KR shares. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR opened at $65.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. 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 one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $68.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $62.74 and its 200-day moving average is $59.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Kroger Company 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.