The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stake Lowered by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,003 shares of the company’s stock after selling 792 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KR. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,795,000 after buying an additional 126,303 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,246,000 after buying an additional 37,222 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $65.82 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $47.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.64. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $45.17 and a 12-month high of $65.83.

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

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % 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 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.00.

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.