Candriam S.C.A. Buys 282 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,481 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $4,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Kroger by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 1.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after buying an additional 36,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter valued at about $566,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 4.7 %

Shares of KR opened at $66.81 on Friday. 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 Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $67.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $62.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.00. The firm has a market cap of $48.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.67, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.86%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on KR shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total value of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 169,559 shares of company stock worth $10,587,476. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.