Assetmark Inc. Has $824,000 Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 239.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,481 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,515 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% in the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven investment 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, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 292,813 shares of company stock worth $19,131,375 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $66.56 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $68.51. The stock has a market cap of $48.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.