Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Acquires New Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 4,810.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,955,000 after purchasing an additional 556,266 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 4.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 284,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,715,000 after acquiring an additional 11,707 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 156,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,143,000 after acquiring an additional 17,380 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Kroger by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,647,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,175,000 after acquiring an additional 115,264 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in Kroger by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 102,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,671,000 after purchasing an additional 37,892 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,767 over the last 90 days. 1.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $55.57 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $40.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of several research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

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.