Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Has $357,000 Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 51.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,842 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,238 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 12,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Kroger by 2.0% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 125,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,279,000 after buying an additional 2,469 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the second quarter worth about $6,062,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 70.7% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 150,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,499,000 after acquiring an additional 62,200 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.80.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $61.65 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.02. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $44.48 and a one year high of $63.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

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.