Keybank National Association OH Purchases 167 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,410 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its stake in Kroger by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 9,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Kroger by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,035,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,935,000 after acquiring an additional 144,845 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 88,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,395,000 after acquiring an additional 2,644 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $585,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 27,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KR. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.50.

Kroger Trading Up 4.7 %

NYSE KR opened at $66.81 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.95. The stock has a market cap of $48.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $67.57. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. On average, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued 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 1.92%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 169,559 shares of company stock valued at $10,587,476. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.