Keystone Financial Group Has $688,000 Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Keystone Financial Group increased its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,098 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,177 shares during the quarter. Keystone Financial Group’s holdings in Kroger were worth $688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after purchasing an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $566,000. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $4,210,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after buying an additional 37,222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $68.26 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.38. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $71.93.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.44, for a total transaction of $2,083,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 127,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,870,057.28. This trade represents a 19.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total value of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,523.90. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 258,785 shares of company stock worth $17,476,866. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.