Norges Bank Buys New Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 9,785,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $598,390,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.35% of Kroger as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 53.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 16,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $963,000 after purchasing an additional 5,853 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Kroger by 53.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 35,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,018,000 after buying an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,252,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 23,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,337,000 after buying an additional 3,972 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 223,244 shares of company stock valued at $15,001,418. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE KR opened at $66.77 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $68.51. 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 company has a market capitalization of $48.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.31.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The company 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%. Equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.