3,334 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Acquired by Simmons Bank

Simmons Bank acquired a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 3,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 57,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,487,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Kroger by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 602,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,824,000 after acquiring an additional 97,647 shares during the period. Millington Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $1,587,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 7,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,965,563.32. This represents a 18.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,444,361.80. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KR. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.19.

Kroger Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $63.91 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $48.21 and a 1 year high of $66.26. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $46.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $62.02 and its 200 day moving average is $58.49.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

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.