Flavin Financial Services Inc. Takes $360,000 Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Flavin Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 11,570.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,398 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Kroger by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in Kroger by 110.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876,397 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 163.1% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,382,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,219,000 after acquiring an additional 857,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Kroger by 569.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 812,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,538,000 after acquiring an additional 690,884 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.80.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $63.32 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $45.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $44.48 and a 1-year high of $64.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.13.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 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.