Wellington Management Group LLP Has $433.07 Million Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. $KR

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 85.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,397,771 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,945,848 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Kroger were worth $433,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Korea Investment CORP boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 618,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,880,000 after acquiring an additional 44,704 shares in the last quarter. Qtron Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Qtron Investments LLC now owns 15,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 115.9% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 9,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $668,000 after acquiring an additional 5,294 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 113.0% in the first quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,252,000 after buying an additional 17,649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in Kroger by 11.0% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,244,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,243,000 after buying an additional 123,007 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, EVP Yael Cosset sold 71,224 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total value of $5,234,251.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 139,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,224,222.76. The trade was a 33.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 16,475 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.79, for a total transaction of $1,215,690.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 49,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,642,274.40. This trade represents a 25.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 198,948 shares of company stock valued at $14,422,926 over the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $69.85 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $50.69 and a twelve month high of $74.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.43. The company has a market capitalization of $46.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.89% and a return on equity of 34.71%. The business had revenue of $45.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 38.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KR. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Melius upgraded shares of Kroger from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.53.

About Kroger

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.