The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Holdings Raised by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV grew its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 75.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,911 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,902 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Kroger were worth $9,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KR. Adirondack Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KR. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.19.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $65.03 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $47.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.12. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $46.96 and a 52 week high of $66.18.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, 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 has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.86%.

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.