The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 184.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 245,616 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 159,351 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $15,019,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Kroger by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,795,000 after purchasing an additional 126,303 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Kroger by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $65.00 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $47.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $60.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.43. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $44.49 and a 1 year high of $65.75.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th 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 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on KR. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, January 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.00.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.