The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Bought by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,906 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,999 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in Kroger during the third quarter valued at $42,220,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,619,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 378.8% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 765,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,988,000 after buying an additional 605,591 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Kroger by 4,810.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,955,000 after acquiring an additional 556,266 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,364,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,814,000 after buying an additional 548,240 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE KR opened at $55.91 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $40.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $54.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.16.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.17.

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.