The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stake Boosted by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 26.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,451,923 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 722,135 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Kroger were worth $211,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 361,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,076,000 after acquiring an additional 25,486 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 45,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,708,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $755,000. Cambridge Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,577,000. Finally, Intrust Bank NA raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 31,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after buying an additional 1,115 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on KR. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 1.2 %

KR stock opened at $67.30 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $48.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $68.68. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.65.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The company 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.