The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,778 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,366 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,308,919.22. This represents a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $67.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $49.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. 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 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $68.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.52.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Equities analysts forecast 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 repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is 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 given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

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.