The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Acquired by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 26.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,451,923 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 722,135 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.48% of Kroger worth $211,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 18,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KR. Citigroup raised their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Roth Mkm raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value 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 trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Trading Down 1.2 %

KR opened at $67.30 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $64.58 and its 200-day moving average is $60.65. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $68.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a P/E/G 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.