Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 36,827 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 43.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,328 shares of the company’s stock after selling 36,827 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Kroger were worth $2,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KR. PDS Planning Inc raised its position in shares of Kroger by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 1,174 shares during the last quarter. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 21,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after buying an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 23,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,433,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total value of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KR. Citigroup increased their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.88.

Kroger Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $66.06 on Thursday. 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 $68.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $63.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.16. The stock has a market cap of $47.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

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.