River Road Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

River Road Asset Management LLC cut its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,639,129 shares of the company’s stock after selling 253,914 shares during the quarter. Kroger comprises 1.3% of River Road Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. River Road Asset Management LLC owned about 0.23% of Kroger worth $100,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its stake in Kroger by 1,628.1% in the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $67.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $48.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $62.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.15. 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 released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KR. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.