Oarsman Capital Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Oarsman Capital Inc. boosted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,574 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Oarsman Capital Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This trade represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 5,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total value of $392,247.39. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $246,349.20. This represents a 61.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 228,785 shares of company stock worth $15,393,666 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 5.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $67.05 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $71.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $64.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.79. The company has a market cap of $48.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. 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 results 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 firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.