Kentucky Trust Co Buys New Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 7,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $434,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Kroger by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,795,000 after purchasing an additional 126,303 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Kroger by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was 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 owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $65.04 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.93 and a 200 day moving average of $57.57. The stock has a market cap of $47.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. 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 $45.17 and a 12 month high of $65.75.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on KR. Roth Mkm lifted their price target 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 boosted their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.00.

Kroger Company 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.