The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by Quantinno Capital Management LP

Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 34.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 226,838 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 58,356 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Kroger were worth $13,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $598,390,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $264,207,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $123,829,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,054,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,402,000 after buying an additional 1,981,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1,045.0% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,562,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,553,000 after buying an additional 1,426,131 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $72,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $754,370.19. This represents a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total value of $719,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 127,106 shares in the company, valued at $8,308,919.22. This represents a 7.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on KR. 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Melius Research lowered Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.06.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $66.36 on Thursday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $73.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $68.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market cap of $43.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. On average, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.