Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,433,595 shares of the company’s stock after selling 127,821 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $271,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Kroger by 11,570.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of Kroger by 110.5% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,828,000 after buying an additional 1,876,397 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 163.1% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,382,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,219,000 after buying an additional 857,008 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new position in Kroger during the third quarter worth about $20,941,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % 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 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on KR. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.19.

Kroger Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $63.71 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $61.96 and a 200 day moving average of $58.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $47.35 and a 1-year high of $66.26.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Kroger’s dividend 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.