Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Makes New $458,000 Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 370.1% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 430.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 613.0% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 77,696 shares in the company, 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 the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,180 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,322. 1.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Trading Down 0.8 %

KR opened at $55.49 on Friday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.24. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.48.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KR. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.17.

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.