Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Purchases 14,078 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 94,644 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,078 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $5,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 25.5% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 212,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,170,000 after buying an additional 43,143 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Kroger by 6.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 135,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,751,000 after acquiring an additional 7,715 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $300,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 33,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Kroger by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $65.00 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $44.49 and a 52 week high of $65.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on KR shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given 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 price target of $67.00.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. This represents a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total transaction of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.