Aigen Investment Management LP Acquires 31,074 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 262.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 42,934 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 31,074 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,625,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Kroger by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after acquiring an additional 53,006 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after acquiring an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $566,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total value of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,304,366.08. This trade represents a 23.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 217,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,743,103.14. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 195,448 shares of company stock worth $12,143,923 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.19.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $63.23 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $66.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.86%.

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.