3,438 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Acquired by Fund 1 Investments LLC

Fund 1 Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $2,162,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 97,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,043,905.59. This trade represents a 23.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 0.3 %

KR stock opened at $72.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.41. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $73.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KR. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Melius Research lowered Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.