WESPAC Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

WESPAC Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,153 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its stake in Kroger by 1,628.1% in the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

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 value of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Seven investment 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.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.19.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $65.03 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $47.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.23. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $46.96 and a 12 month high of $66.18.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

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.