Toronto Dominion Bank Grows Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 359,121 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,911 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Kroger were worth $21,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $2,162,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 97,737 shares in the company, valued at $7,043,905.59. The trade was a 23.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on KR shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim raised their price target on Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Melius Research cut Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.06.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $68.79 on Monday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $73.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $68.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.89.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results 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. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

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.