NEOS Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 30.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 37,139 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,705 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 53.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 16,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $963,000 after purchasing an additional 5,853 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 53.1% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its holdings in Kroger by 2.7% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 35,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,018,000 after acquiring an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Kroger in the third quarter worth approximately $1,252,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 23,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $66.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.31. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $68.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KR. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Bank of America upped their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.