Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Sells 4,875 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lessened its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 12.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,517 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,875 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the third quarter worth $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Kroger by 218.8% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Kroger from $59.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.31.

Kroger Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE:KR opened at $63.30 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.75. The company has a market cap of $45.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. 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 12 month low of $43.51 and a 12 month high of $63.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,821 shares of company stock valued at $3,445,490. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.