Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Increases Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,052 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated’s holdings in Kroger were worth $615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 102,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,292,000 after purchasing an additional 4,950 shares during the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $219,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 12,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 14,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $671,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 0.1 %

Kroger stock opened at $65.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.36. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $44.49 and a 52 week high of $65.75.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was 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 $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KR shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.00.

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.