The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Bought by Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,287 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advyzon Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $367,000. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 32,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares during the last quarter. CogentBlue Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after purchasing an additional 2,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 6,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’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 value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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. Seven investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.19.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $65.03 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.77 and a 200-day moving average of $58.26. The company has a market capitalization of $47.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $46.96 and a 1-year high of $66.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its 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 net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio 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.