11,133 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Acquired by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $681,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.88.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

KR opened at $65.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50 day moving average of $63.37 and a 200-day moving average of $59.91. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total value of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares in the company, valued at $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 15,959 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.63, for a total value of $1,047,389.17. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 89,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,846,648.55. The trade was a 15.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 212,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,282,348. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger 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.