Prudential PLC Trims Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Prudential PLC lowered its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,569 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,844 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.44, for a total transaction of $2,083,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 127,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,870,057.28. The trade was a 19.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 258,785 shares of company stock valued at $17,476,866 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Melius Research downgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Melius lowered Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $66.40 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.96. 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 twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $71.93.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

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.