Larson Financial Group LLC Purchases 2,680 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 72.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,392 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,680 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Kroger by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after acquiring an additional 36,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the third quarter valued at $566,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on KR. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.94.

Kroger Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $67.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $48.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.15. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was 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 directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Kroger

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.