Asset Dedication LLC Acquires 1,213 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 206.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,801 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,213 shares during the quarter. Asset Dedication LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 36,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $566,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price for the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.80.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $61.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $63.59.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often 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.