Mizuho Securities USA LLC Purchases 20,024 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 46.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 63,084 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,024 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $3,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,942,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.88.

Kroger Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of KR opened at $65.38 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $68.51. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 212,244 shares of company stock worth $14,282,348. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.