Valmark Advisers Inc. Grows Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,260 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Adirondack Trust Co. boosted its stake in Kroger by 1,628.1% during the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth $40,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.19.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR opened at $65.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.95. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $46.96 and a twelve month high of $66.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

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

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 shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.