Sentry Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,441 shares of the company’s stock after selling 397 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Millington Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $1,587,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 40,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,487,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BCGM Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. BCGM Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.19.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $63.71 on Thursday. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $47.35 and a 52 week high of $66.26. The company has a market capitalization of $46.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 2.01%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 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.