Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Lowers Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 141,528 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,029 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Kroger were worth $8,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its stake in Kroger by 1,628.1% in the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 15,959 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.63, for a total transaction of $1,047,389.17. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,846,648.55. The trade was a 15.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 212,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,282,348. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $65.38 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $68.51. 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 firm has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $63.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.86.

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

Kroger declared that its board has authorized 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 reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on KR. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

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.