Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Purchases 206,136 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 19.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,249,092 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 206,136 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Kroger were worth $76,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $1,113,000. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,210,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Kroger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares during the period. Sylvest Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $1,132,000. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $504,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $2,162,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 97,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,043,905.59. This represents a 23.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $72,030.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $754,370.19. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 0.3 %

Kroger stock opened at $72.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.41. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $73.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. On average, analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Melius Research lowered shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.06.

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.