Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,780 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,072 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $4,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its holdings in Kroger by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,942,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendel Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 0.6% during the third quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. 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 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities 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. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.19.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE KR opened at $63.23 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $62.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.79. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $66.26. 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 company has a market cap of $45.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 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.