Hemington Wealth Management Raises Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 17.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,506 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management’s holdings in Kroger were worth $92,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Adirondack Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% in the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.00.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $65.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $61.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.64. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $45.17 and a twelve month high of $65.83.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Company 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.