KCM Investment Advisors LLC Sells 233 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 24,037 shares of the company’s stock after selling 233 shares during the quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,470,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 18,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its position in Kroger by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 5.2 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $67.05 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $64.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.83. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $71.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $806,523.90. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 228,785 shares of company stock worth $15,393,666. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.