The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Bought by Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,507 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 274 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $458,000. F M Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 16,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 135,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,185,000 after buying an additional 14,723 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 1,999 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at $5,894,582.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,894,582.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,180 shares of company stock worth $2,750,322 over the last ninety days. 1.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $55.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of $54.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.24. The company has a market cap of $40.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KR. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.17.

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.