HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Sells 508 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lessened its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,076 shares of the company’s stock after selling 508 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KR. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. This represents 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 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 223,244 shares of company stock valued at $15,001,418 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $68.13 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.60. The firm has a market cap of $49.30 billion, a PE ratio of 18.02, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $68.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on KR. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Melius cut Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.39.

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.