Eisler Capital Management Ltd. Makes New Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Eisler Capital Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 90,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,605,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.06.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $72,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $754,370.19. This trade represents a 8.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:KR opened at $71.87 on Friday. 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 Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $73.63. The company has a market cap of $47.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.30.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. As a group, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

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.