Fmr LLC Boosts Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Fmr LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 39.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,054,824 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,981,259 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $431,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 88,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,056,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 210.5% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 16,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 11,008 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 21.0% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 41,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 7,196 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in Kroger by 17.9% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 50,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,872,000 after acquiring an additional 7,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its position in Kroger by 29.3% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 23,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,339,000 after acquiring an additional 5,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $65.77 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $65.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.17. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $71.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

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

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. This trade represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 258,785 shares of company stock worth $17,476,866. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

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.