Truist Financial Corp Purchases 3,049 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Truist Financial Corp grew its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 179,401 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,049 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $10,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 148,221 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $124,697,000 after purchasing an additional 36,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $566,000. 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $64.41 on Friday. 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 $46.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.08. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $46.96 and a 1-year high of $66.18.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

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.