198,666 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Bought by Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 198,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,148,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KR. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Melius lowered Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.44, for a total value of $2,083,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 127,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,870,057.28. This represents a 19.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of Kroger 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This trade represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 258,785 shares of company stock worth $17,476,866 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $69.11 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $71.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.75 and its 200-day moving average is $61.46.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

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.