Cypress Capital Group Trims Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Cypress Capital Group decreased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 30.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,823 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,057 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Kroger were worth $417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% during the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $62.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $45.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.82. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $66.26.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.86%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % 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, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.