Gryphon Financial Partners LLC Cuts Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Gryphon Financial Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,064 shares of the company’s stock after selling 268 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $62.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.72. 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 52 week low of $49.00 and a 52 week high of $66.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, 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 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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 approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. 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 2.04%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on KR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

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.