Mizuho Bank Ltd. Makes New $86,000 Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Kroger by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,027,979,000 after purchasing an additional 773,182 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after buying an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,479,000 after acquiring an additional 416,962 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $598,390,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Kroger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after acquiring an additional 37,222 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 5,541 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total value of $392,247.39. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,349.20. This trade represents a 61.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 228,785 shares of company stock valued at $15,393,666. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Two investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.50.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $67.05 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $71.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $48.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $64.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.79.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

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.