The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Bought by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 312,136 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,393 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $19,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1,628.1% in the 4th quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $65.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $68.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $63.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Roth Mkm upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $806,523.90. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 212,244 shares of company stock worth $14,282,348. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company 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.