Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Increases Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,081,098 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 0.15% of Kroger worth $66,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $66.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a PEG 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 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 50 day moving average price of $63.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.21.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on KR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. This trade represents a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total value of $719,070.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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. Insiders sold 223,244 shares of company stock valued at $15,001,418 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.