Trexquant Investment LP Makes New Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $801,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on KR. Guggenheim raised their target price on Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius Research lowered Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Remove Ads

Kroger Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of KR traded down $0.94 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.14. The company had a trading volume of 8,990,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,376,909. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.46. 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 cap of $45.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $71.93.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Research 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 will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. Kroger's payout ratio is 34.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.44, for a total transaction of $2,083,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 127,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,870,057.28. This trade represents a 19.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 258,785 shares of company stock valued at $17,476,866 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.