Hoey Investments Inc. Invests $65,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,027,979,000 after buying an additional 773,182 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Kroger by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Kroger by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $914,795,000 after purchasing an additional 126,303 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $598,390,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after buying an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,131.04. This trade represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 223,244 shares of company stock valued at $15,001,418 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $66.77 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.43. The company has a market capitalization of $48.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $68.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

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

Kroger declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.92%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

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.