First Business Financial Services Inc. Raises Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

First Business Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,668 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings 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 worth $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.1% during 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. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 36,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth $566,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE KR opened at $62.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $62.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.82. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $66.26.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KR. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.19.

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.