Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Sells 41,319 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. trimmed its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 199,633 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,319 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $12,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. increased its position in Kroger by 1,628.1% during the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 17,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.19, for a total transaction of $1,170,570.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 139,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,208,617.56. This represents a 11.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 4,492 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.53, for a total value of $298,852.76. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,524.40. The trade was a 56.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 196,285 shares of company stock valued at $13,234,959 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $65.46 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average is $63.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $68.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America upped their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

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.