Golden State Wealth Management LLC Invests $49,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Kroger by 11,570.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in Kroger by 110.5% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,828,000 after buying an additional 1,876,397 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 163.1% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,382,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,219,000 after acquiring an additional 857,008 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Kroger by 569.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 812,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,538,000 after acquiring an additional 690,884 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $65.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $60.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $45.17 and a 12-month high of $65.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.