Hager Investment Management Services LLC Purchases Shares of 10,970 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $671,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Kroger by 11,570.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,398 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Kroger by 6.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Kroger by 110.5% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 3,574,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876,397 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 163.1% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,382,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,219,000 after acquiring an additional 857,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 569.6% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 812,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,538,000 after acquiring an additional 690,884 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on KR. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.06.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $64.03 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $44.48 and a 52 week high of $64.90. The firm has a market cap of $46.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

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

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value 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. The trade was a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.