Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 416,962 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 416,962 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,002,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE KR opened at $67.30 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.65. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $68.68. 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 $48.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Melius cut shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.39.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.