Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Acquires 2,427 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 44,023 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares during the period. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in Kroger by 25.5% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 212,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,170,000 after purchasing an additional 43,143 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $300,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 0.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 33,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 18.9% in the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156 shares during the period. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value 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. The trade was a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:KR opened at $65.00 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.43. The company has a market cap of $47.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $44.49 and a 52-week high of $65.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally 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 Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.00.

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.