D Orazio & Associates Inc. Invests $238,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 186,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,406,000 after buying an additional 16,425 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in Kroger by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 84,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,151,000 after purchasing an additional 3,237 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $771,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.00.

Kroger Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE KR opened at $65.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $60.75 and its 200 day moving average is $57.36. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $47.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $44.49 and a twelve month high of $65.75.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

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.