The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP lessened its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 574,004 shares of the company’s stock after selling 95,430 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.08% of Kroger worth $35,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 11,570.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,706,398 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Kroger by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 110.5% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,828,000 after buying an additional 1,876,397 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $68,581,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 163.1% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,382,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,219,000 after buying an additional 857,008 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 223,244 shares of company stock valued at $15,001,418 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $66.77 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.31. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $68.51. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $48.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on KR. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

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.