DGS Capital Management LLC Has $748,000 Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,057 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $63.36. 716,656 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,710,125. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $43.51 and a 12-month high of $63.59. The company has a market capitalization of $45.84 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.81. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas started coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 58,821 shares of company stock worth $3,445,490 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.