State of Michigan Retirement System Trims Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

State of Michigan Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 618,087 shares of the company’s stock after selling 102,000 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of Kroger worth $37,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. lifted its stake in Kroger by 1,628.1% during the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was 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 directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $62.71 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.72. The company has a market capitalization of $45.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $49.00 and a twelve month high of $66.26.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The company 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%. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday. UBS Group upped their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

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.