Wealthspire Advisors LLC Has $575,000 Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,399 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Mendel Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, Cooper Financial Group boosted its stake in Kroger by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.19.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock opened at $63.71 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 capitalization of $46.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.45. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $47.35 and a 52-week high of $66.26.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by 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.