The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Position Boosted by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,644 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,078 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $5,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $671,000. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,653,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,114,000 after purchasing an additional 62,685 shares during the last quarter. Flavin Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $360,000. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 52,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,201,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.00.

Kroger Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $65.00 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $44.49 and a 1 year high of $65.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $60.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.36. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $47.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Kroger declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $1,167,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 25,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.12, for a total value of $1,556,446.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 115,861 shares in the company, valued at $6,965,563.32. This trade represents a 18.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.