iA Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 6,412 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,370 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,412 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 521 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $64.69 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.78. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $68.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. On average, analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 15,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.63, for a total value of $1,047,389.17. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 89,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,846,648.55. This represents a 15.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 212,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,282,348. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

Kroger 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.