Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC Acquires 980 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,989 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 980 shares during the quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kroger by 0.6% during the third quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group lifted its stake in Kroger by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City Center Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 5,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Seven equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.81.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $64.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $44.48 and a twelve month high of $65.75. The stock has a market cap of $46.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.31.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced 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 net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

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.