HUB Investment Partners LLC Has $421,000 Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

HUB Investment Partners LLC cut its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,884 shares of the company’s stock after selling 259 shares during the period. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 49.4% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 24,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 7,989 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.2% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,783,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 205,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,771,000 after purchasing an additional 9,190 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in 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 period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR opened at $65.38 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.37 and its 200-day moving average is $59.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $68.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

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

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 15,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.63, for a total transaction of $1,047,389.17. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,846,648.55. This trade represents a 15.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 212,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,282,348. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.