Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Purchases 279 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,773 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,662,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,168,000 after buying an additional 498,995 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,640,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,872,000 after buying an additional 322,040 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,922,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $442,355,000 after buying an additional 535,244 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,833,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,551,000 after buying an additional 511,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,667,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,642,000 after buying an additional 2,552,989 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of KR opened at $55.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The business had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on KR shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.17.

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.