The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Allianz Asset Management GmbH

Allianz Asset Management GmbH reduced its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,200,625 shares of the company’s stock after selling 232,590 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned approximately 0.72% of Kroger worth $318,018,000 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. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% during the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on KR. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $64.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. 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 Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $46.96 and a 1-year high of $66.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.08.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.86%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Kroger

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.