RWA Wealth Partners LLC Invests $755,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 12,343 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $755,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,308,919.22. The trade was a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 228,785 shares of company stock worth $15,393,666 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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Kroger Trading Down 4.5 %

KR stock traded down $3.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $67.58. The company had a trading volume of 9,999,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,176,384. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $71.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.72.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) 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 firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management 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 paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Kroger Company 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.