The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 43,778 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,366 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $598,390,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Kroger by 11,570.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,110,681 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $68,581,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 163.1% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,382,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,219,000 after buying an additional 857,008 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on KR. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup raised their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Seven equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, 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 sold 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE KR opened at $67.77 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $49.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $68.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.52.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its 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 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. Equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

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

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.