ZEGA Investments LLC Invests $515,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

ZEGA Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $515,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in Kroger by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its position in Kroger by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its position in Kroger by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its position in Kroger by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its position in Kroger by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,942,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.88.

Kroger Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $65.38 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $68.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued 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 return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 212,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,282,348 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.