Clune & Associates LTD. Makes New $733,000 Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Clune & Associates LTD. bought a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KR. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 11,570.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,729,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,417,000 after buying an additional 2,706,398 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted 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 valued at $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $68,581,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $65.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.95. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $68.51.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total value of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 15,959 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.63, for a total value of $1,047,389.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,846,648.55. This represents a 15.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 212,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,282,348. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.