The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by Bridgefront Capital LLC

Bridgefront Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 119.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,971 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,053 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $598,390,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $123,829,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,981,259 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1,045.0% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,562,600 shares of the company's stock worth $95,553,000 after purchasing an additional 1,426,131 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $68,581,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Melius downgraded shares of Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.06.

Kroger Trading Up 0.3 %

Kroger stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $72.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,311,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,621,625. The stock's fifty day moving average is $68.14 and its 200 day moving average is $63.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $73.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $2,162,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 97,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,043,905.59. This trade represents a 23.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total value of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.