Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 718 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Independent Advisor Alliance cut its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 33,382 shares of the company’s stock after selling 718 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 99,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,093,000 after buying an additional 1,430 shares in the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 47,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,926,000 after acquiring an additional 2,124 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 53,350.0% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 5,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 5,335 shares during the last quarter. Argentarii LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $243,000. Finally, Coordinated Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $282,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,131.04. This trade represents a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 160,186 shares of company stock worth $10,752,001. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock opened at $66.12 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.67 and a 200-day moving average of $59.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $68.51. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on KR. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

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.