Alberta Investment Management Corp Lowers Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Alberta Investment Management Corp cut its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 67.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,402 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its stake in Kroger by 1,628.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on KR. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.19.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of Kroger 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. The trade was a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $65.03 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $46.96 and a fifty-two week high of $66.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company has a market capitalization of $47.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.71 and a 200 day moving average of $58.12.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.