Candriam S.C.A. Raises Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Candriam S.C.A. raised its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 71,481 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 282 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $4,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,795,000 after purchasing an additional 126,303 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,035,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,935,000 after purchasing an additional 144,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on KR. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup increased their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.50.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $66.81 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $62.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.00. 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 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $67.57. The company has a market cap of $48.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % 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 16,932 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,782 shares in the company, valued at $3,304,366.08. This represents a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 169,559 shares of company stock worth $10,587,476. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.