111 Capital Invests $591,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

111 Capital bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 9,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $591,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after acquiring an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Sylvest Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,132,000. Flavin Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $360,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 78.5% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 37,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,285,000 after acquiring an additional 16,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 14,078 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This trade represents a 45.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $2,162,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 97,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,043,905.59. This represents a 23.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Melius Research upgraded Kroger from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Kroger from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Melius raised Kroger from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.06.

Kroger Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE KR opened at $67.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $44.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $69.03 and its 200-day moving average is $64.38. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $73.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders 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 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

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.