NewEdge Advisors LLC Increases Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 86.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,655 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,256 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $4,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $598,390,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,054,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,402,000 after buying an additional 1,981,259 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $68,581,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,359,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Melius lowered shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Melius Research downgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

Insider Activity

In other 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 directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 290,056 shares of company stock worth $19,637,066. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $71.30 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $66.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.80. 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 company has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $71.93.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

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.