Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 11,741 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 298,774 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,741 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $18,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $598,390,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,054,824 shares of the company's stock worth $431,402,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981,259 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $68,581,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 48.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,359,918 shares of the company's stock worth $205,459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090,440 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,027,979,000 after buying an additional 773,182 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 127,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,308,919.22. This represents a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 12,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,785 shares of company stock valued at $17,476,866 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.50.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock traded down $0.70 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.38. 2,706,924 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,352,679. 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 capitalization of $45.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $71.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.46.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.