Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Trims Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,429 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,232 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KR. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after purchasing an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth about $566,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Seven 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $65.35 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $61.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.95. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $46.96 and a one year high of $66.18. 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 firm has a market cap of $47.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding 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 believes its stock is 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.