Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Purchases Shares of 5,756 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KR. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 403,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,697,000 after purchasing an additional 60,804 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 43,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,677,000 after purchasing an additional 2,366 shares during the period. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 121,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,645 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Melius upgraded shares of Kroger from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, July 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 16,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.79, for a total value of $1,215,690.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 49,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,642,274.40. This trade represents a 25.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total transaction of $1,890,387.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 99,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,989,581.50. This trade represents a 21.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 198,948 shares of company stock worth $14,422,926 in the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 3.0%

Kroger stock opened at $69.32 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $50.69 and a twelve month high of $74.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $69.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.18. The company has a market capitalization of $45.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The firm had revenue of $45.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Kroger 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.