Lincluden Management Ltd. Sells 799 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Lincluden Management Ltd. lowered its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,024 shares of the company’s stock after selling 799 shares during the period. Kroger accounts for about 0.9% of Lincluden Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Lincluden Management Ltd.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $7,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $64.80 on Tuesday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.33. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $47.15 and a 52 week high of $66.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.