The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock Position Lifted by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 120,447 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,477 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $7,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Kroger by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,795,000 after acquiring an additional 126,303 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,246,000 after buying an additional 37,222 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,035,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,935,000 after buying an additional 144,845 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Kroger by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on KR. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.88.

Kroger Stock Down 0.8 %

KR opened at $65.46 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.74. 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 Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $68.51. The firm has a market cap of $47.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total value of $86,723.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 196,285 shares of company stock valued at $13,234,959 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.