Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 23,326 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,158,930 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,326 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $70,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. grew its holdings 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 during the period. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE:KR opened at $63.89 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $46.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.90, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.85. 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 Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $66.26.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.19.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 169,559 shares of company stock worth $10,587,476 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.