Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Has $574,000 Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 66.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,377 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,732 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KR. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its stake in Kroger by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendel Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 3.3 %

KR opened at $62.71 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.00 and a fifty-two week high of $66.26. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $45.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $62.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.72.

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

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KR shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.19.

Kroger 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.