Palisade Capital Management LP Invests $9.06 Million in KKR & Co. Inc. $KKR

Palisade Capital Management LP bought a new position in KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 98,738 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $9,062,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,507,741 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,804,470,000 after buying an additional 1,261,314 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,995,742 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,903,220,000 after acquiring an additional 146,285 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,715,929,000. First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its holdings in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 8,597,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,095,951,000 after acquiring an additional 67,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,602,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $714,195,000 after acquiring an additional 23,483 shares during the last quarter. 76.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KKR & Co. Inc. Price Performance

Shares of KKR & Co. Inc. stock opened at $107.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $96.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a current ratio of 0.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $100.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.56. KKR & Co. Inc. has a one year low of $82.67 and a one year high of $152.10.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The asset manager reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. KKR & Co. Inc. had a return on equity of 5.88% and a net margin of 14.41%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. Equities analysts expect that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.68 EPS for the current year.

KKR & Co. Inc. announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the asset manager to buy up to 0.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

KKR & Co. Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.195 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. KKR & Co. Inc.’s payout ratio is 24.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KKR. Argus raised their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $143.00 to $139.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $118.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.75.

About KKR & Co. Inc.

KKR & Co Inc is a global investment firm headquartered in New York City that specializes in private markets and alternative asset management. Founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg Jr., Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts, the firm built its reputation in leveraged buyouts and has since expanded into a multi-strategy asset manager. KKR operates across private equity, credit, real assets (including real estate and infrastructure), growth equity and hedge fund strategies, offering a range of investment products and strategies for institutional and private investors.

KKR manages capital through traditional closed-end funds as well as customized vehicles such as separate accounts, co-investments, and listed investment vehicles.