Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $48.67 Million Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 28.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,064,797 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 235,598 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.15% of Kroger worth $48,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 4,810.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,955,000 after acquiring an additional 556,266 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.3% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 284,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,715,000 after purchasing an additional 11,707 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 156,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,143,000 after buying an additional 17,380 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,647,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,175,000 after buying an additional 115,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in Kroger by 58.9% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 102,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,671,000 after buying an additional 37,892 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,615,091.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.6 %

KR opened at $54.78 on Monday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The firm has a market cap of $39.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $54.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.67.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 39.19%.

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.