Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in KKR & Co. Inc. $KKR

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 60,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $5,522,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,507,741 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,804,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,314 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,995,742 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,903,220,000 after acquiring an additional 146,285 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $1,715,929,000. First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its position in KKR & Co. Inc. by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 8,597,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,095,951,000 after acquiring an additional 67,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,602,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $714,195,000 after purchasing an additional 23,483 shares in the last quarter. 76.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KKR shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. HSBC upped their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Argus raised their target price on KKR & Co. Inc. from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $124.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KKR & Co. Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.00.

KKR & Co. Inc. Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock opened at $109.33 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $100.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.67. The company has a market capitalization of $98.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.67 and a 12-month high of $152.10.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The asset manager reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.20. KKR & Co. Inc. had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 5.88%. The firm had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.195 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. KKR & Co. Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.84%.

KKR & Co. Inc. announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the asset manager to repurchase up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

KKR & Co. Inc. Company Profile

KKR & Co Inc is a global investment firm headquartered in New York City that specializes in private markets and alternative asset management. Founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg Jr., Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts, the firm built its reputation in leveraged buyouts and has since expanded into a multi-strategy asset manager. KKR operates across private equity, credit, real assets (including real estate and infrastructure), growth equity and hedge fund strategies, offering a range of investment products and strategies for institutional and private investors.

KKR manages capital through traditional closed-end funds as well as customized vehicles such as separate accounts, co-investments, and listed investment vehicles.