Ninety One UK Ltd Buys 62,685 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,653,547 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 62,685 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd owned about 0.23% of Kroger worth $101,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its position in Kroger by 1,628.1% during the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Kroger during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.06.

Kroger Stock Up 1.1 %

KR stock opened at $64.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $60.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.19. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.48 and a fifty-two week high of $64.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

Kroger 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.