LMR Partners LLP Invests $1.85 Million in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

LMR Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 30,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,853,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $598,390,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $264,207,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $123,829,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,054,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,402,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 1,045.0% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,562,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,131 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,308,919.22. The trade was a 7.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $67.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $73.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $68.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.60.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on KR shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.06.

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.