Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 99,637 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,430 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $6,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 245.2% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,817 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of Kroger by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 42,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,446,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp lifted its stake in Kroger by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 27,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,582,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 66.0% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 1,813 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of KR opened at $65.01 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.29. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $68.51. 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 firm has a market cap of $47.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 160,186 shares of company stock worth $10,752,001. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Kroger

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.