The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Bought by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 19.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 28,785 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,596 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $156,126,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Kroger by 82.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,667,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,552,989 shares during the last quarter. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth about $82,523,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $71,410,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in Kroger in the third quarter worth about $42,220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $57.11 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $57.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.55. The firm has a market cap of $41.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.46.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 39.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Kroger from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Kroger from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.64.

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.