Merit Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,913 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,194 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KR. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth approximately $42,220,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,619,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 378.8% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 765,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,988,000 after purchasing an additional 605,591 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 4,810.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,955,000 after purchasing an additional 556,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 30.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,364,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,814,000 after purchasing an additional 548,240 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 55,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,767. Corporate insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KR. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

Kroger Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $55.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $55.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.83. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The stock has a market cap of $39.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

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.