AQR Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,635,226 shares of the company's stock after selling 156,161 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.64% of Kroger worth $283,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $598,390,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 39.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,054,824 shares of the company's stock valued at $431,402,000 after buying an additional 1,981,259 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $68,581,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,359,918 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,459,000 after buying an additional 1,090,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,829,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $478,768,000 after buying an additional 916,230 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $2,162,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 97,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,043,905.59. The trade was a 23.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total value of $719,070.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 127,106 shares in the company, valued at $8,308,919.22. The trade was a 7.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on KR. Melius Research cut shares of Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.06.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock traded down $0.01 on Thursday, hitting $72.20. 5,496,953 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,597,045. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.31 and a 200 day moving average of $62.75. The stock has a market cap of $47.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. 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 Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $73.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Kroger's payout ratio is presently 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.