Swiss National Bank Sells 93,500 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,941,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 93,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Kroger were worth $118,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 245.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Kroger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 42,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,446,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in Kroger by 17.8% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 8,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 2.8% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 53.9% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 3,869 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE:KR opened at $65.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $62.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.43. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $68.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. 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 permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on KR shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. 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 note on Friday, December 20th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 160,186 shares of company stock worth $10,752,001 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Company 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.