The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 30.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 341,810 shares of the company’s stock after selling 148,833 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $20,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th 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. State Street Corp grew its position in Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,479,000 after acquiring an additional 416,962 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $598,390,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 228,785 shares of company stock valued at $15,393,666. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 5.2 %

KR stock opened at $67.05 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $71.93. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $64.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

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

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.