372,525 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Acquired by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 372,525 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,780,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned about 0.05% of Kroger as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 4.7% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 205,421 shares of the company's stock worth $11,771,000 after purchasing an additional 9,190 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,260,000. Nwam LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth about $526,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Kroger by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 287,033 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,447,000 after acquiring an additional 70,009 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares in the company, valued at $806,523.90. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This trade represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 223,244 shares of company stock valued at $15,001,418 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.88.

Kroger Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:KR traded up $0.13 on Thursday, hitting $66.16. 5,275,822 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,859,598. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.16. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $68.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

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

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

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.