Toronto Dominion Bank Increases Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 359,121 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,911 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Kroger were worth $21,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Steadfast Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $277,989,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $730,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $16,014,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 64,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,947,000 after buying an additional 5,617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $409,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Melius Research lowered Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.06.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $68.79 on Monday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.89. The company has a market cap of $45.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $73.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total value 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 represents a 9.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.