Jones Financial Companies Lllp Has $1.54 Million Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 37.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,142 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,799 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in Kroger were worth $1,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Kroger by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,717,000 after acquiring an additional 148,221 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Kroger by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $280,248,000 after acquiring an additional 53,006 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Kroger by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,697,000 after acquiring an additional 36,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $566,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR traded up $3.03 on Friday, reaching $66.81. The company had a trading volume of 10,791,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,868,815. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $67.57. The stock has a market cap of $48.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company's fifty day moving average is $62.27 and its 200 day moving average is $59.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

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Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. As a group, analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.50.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 169,559 shares of company stock worth $10,587,476. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.