4,674 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Purchased by Sage Mountain Advisors LLC

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,674 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Kroger by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Kroger by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,795,000 after acquiring an additional 126,303 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Kroger by 0.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,246,000 after acquiring an additional 37,222 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Kroger by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,035,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,935,000 after acquiring an additional 144,845 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Kroger by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,717,000 after acquiring an additional 148,221 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven investment 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, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the business’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 value of $7,839,343.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 2.3 %

NYSE:KR opened at $65.01 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.29. 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 Kroger Co. has a one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $68.51. The company has a market cap of $47.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Kroger declared 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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.