Todd Asset Management LLC Has $24.88 Million Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Todd Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 406,815 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,527 shares during the quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Kroger worth $24,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KR. Millington Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,587,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 40,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,487,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Kroger by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven equities 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Kroger Stock Down 0.4 %

Kroger stock opened at $64.80 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $47.15 and a 52-week high of $66.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.33. The firm has a market cap of $46.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

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 given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,965,563.32. The trade was a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.