Maverick Capital Ltd. Buys New Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 7,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 218.8% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Melius Research assumed coverage on Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim increased their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at $784,715.40. This trade represents a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $61.08 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $57.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.41. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.97 and a twelve month high of $61.18. The stock has a market cap of $44.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 33.51%.

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.