Sherman Asset Management Inc. Invests $92,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sherman Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KR. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at $216,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its holdings in Kroger by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 1,014 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. raised its holdings in Kroger by 53.0% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 7,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 2,492 shares during the period. Finally, Affinity Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Kroger by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 1.4 %

Kroger stock opened at $64.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $48.21 and a 52 week high of $66.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $62.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a share 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 buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.