Swiss National Bank Has $118.74 Million Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,941,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 93,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.27% of Kroger worth $118,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in 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 buying an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,795,000 after purchasing an additional 126,303 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Kroger by 0.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,035,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,935,000 after acquiring an additional 144,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after acquiring an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.88.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $65.12 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $68.51. The stock has a market cap of $47.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.43.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Kroger declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 160,186 shares of company stock valued at $10,752,001. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company 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.