Blair William & Co. IL Increases Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 159,412 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Kroger were worth $9,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 37,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after buying an additional 8,705 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in Kroger by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 57,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,522,000 after acquiring an additional 6,467 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its position in Kroger by 1,131.0% during the fourth quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 95,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,841,000 after acquiring an additional 87,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,066,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,569,000 after purchasing an additional 85,997 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $66.77 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $68.51. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,106 shares in the company, valued at $8,308,919.22. This trade represents a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.88.

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.