The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stake Boosted by Perigon Wealth Management LLC

Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,833 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 valued at $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,795,000 after purchasing an additional 126,303 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Kroger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the third 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. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings 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 valued at $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $61.65 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.02. The firm has a market cap of $44.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.48. 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 Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter 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, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, January 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.80.

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.