Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $10.21 Million Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 166,995 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,251 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $10,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Kroger by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 179,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,970,000 after buying an additional 3,049 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Kroger by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 120,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 3,030 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 133,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,939 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $771,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Seven equities 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR stock opened at $65.20 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $45.88 and a 1-year high of $66.18. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.88. The firm has a market cap of $47.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

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

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.