Eisler Capital Management Ltd. Purchases Shares of 90,483 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Eisler Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 90,483 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,605,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $598,390,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $123,829,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,054,824 shares of the company's stock worth $431,402,000 after buying an additional 1,981,259 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 1,045.0% in 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. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,581,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. 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, Melius Research cut shares of Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.06.

Kroger Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Kroger stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $72.00. 4,311,871 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,630,345. The stock has a market cap of $47.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $68.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $73.63.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

Kroger 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.