Ninety One UK Ltd Buys 62,685 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,653,547 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,685 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Kroger were worth $101,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flavin Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $360,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 52,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,201,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $223,000. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 31,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its position in Kroger by 2,482.6% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 43,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,636,000 after buying an additional 41,434 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $64.03 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $44.48 and a twelve month high of $64.90. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $60.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.19. The firm has a market cap of $46.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on KR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.06.

Kroger Company 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.