Parcion Private Wealth LLC Buys 1,301 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Parcion Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 86,354 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $5,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 148,221 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth approximately $566,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. The trade was a 18.26 % 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 quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Kroger Stock Up 0.2 %

KR stock opened at $65.41 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $47.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.96 and a fifty-two week high of $66.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.60 and a 200-day moving average of $58.03.

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

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.