Oxbow Advisors LLC Sells 2,498 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Oxbow Advisors LLC reduced its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,610 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,498 shares during the period. Oxbow Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,077,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. boosted its stake 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 in 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE KR opened at $65.03 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.12. The stock has a market cap of $47.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $46.96 and a 12-month high of $66.18. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.19.

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.