The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,599 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $896,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4,810.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,955,000 after purchasing an additional 556,266 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 12.5% during 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 period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Kroger by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,647,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,175,000 after purchasing an additional 115,264 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in Kroger by 58.9% in 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 in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of KR opened at $54.78 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $54.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $39.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.49.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767 in the last quarter. 1.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.