Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Takes Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 446,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,326,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $2,162,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 97,737 shares in the company, valued at $7,043,905.59. The trade was a 23.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $70.03 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $73.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.78 and its 200 day moving average is $62.31. The company has a market cap of $46.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Kroger Company 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.