Whipplewood Advisors LLC Invests $26,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KR. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its stake in Kroger by 1,628.1% in the 4th 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. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth about $40,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.19.

Kroger Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $64.81 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $62.08 and a 200 day moving average of $58.61. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $48.21 and a 52-week high of $66.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

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.