MGO One Seven LLC Grows Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

MGO One Seven LLC increased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,070 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,405 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $598,390,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 39.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $68,581,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,359,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,027,979,000 after acquiring an additional 773,182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KR. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Kroger Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE:KR opened at $70.03 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $73.63. The business’s 50-day moving average is $66.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Company 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.