Natixis Advisors L.P. Buys 27,711 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 306,281 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,711 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $14,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,662,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,014,168,000 after purchasing an additional 498,995 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Kroger by 7.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,833,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,551,000 after acquiring an additional 511,978 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Kroger by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,492,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,023,000 after acquiring an additional 78,710 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in Kroger by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,005,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,242,000 after acquiring an additional 10,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,619,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,246,000 after purchasing an additional 50,177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767. 1.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $55.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.75.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.19%.

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.