30,306 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Bought by LMR Partners LLP

LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 30,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,853,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 4,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.53, for a total value of $298,852.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,524.40. The trade was a 56.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $67.50 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $73.63. The company has a market capitalization of $44.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. 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’s 50-day moving average is $68.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.60.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Melius Research lowered shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.06.

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.