Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. Decreases Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 329,729 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,687 shares during the period. Kroger makes up 2.7% of Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $20,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. State Street Corp boosted its position in Kroger by 6.8% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,795,000 after acquiring an additional 126,303 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Kroger by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KR shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:KR opened at $65.03 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $46.96 and a 12-month high of $66.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

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.