Schroder Investment Management Group Has $100.55 Million Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Schroder Investment Management Group lowered its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,199,631 shares of the company’s stock after selling 394,560 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.31% of Kroger worth $100,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KR. SouthState Corp increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 334.3% in the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 370.1% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 613.0% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Field & Main Bank bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on KR. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Kroger stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $51.98. 3,005,688 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,970,012. The company has a 50 day moving average of $54.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.22. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $37.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.43.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The business had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Kroger’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.19%.

About Kroger

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.