AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Increases Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 27.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 544,192 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 115,632 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned 0.08% of Kroger worth $36,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company's stock worth $353,246,000 after buying an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company's stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Kroger by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,272,000 after buying an additional 971 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its position in Kroger by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,129 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Kroger by 2,482.6% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 43,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,636,000 after acquiring an additional 41,434 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kroger from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Melius raised Kroger from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.06.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR traded down $0.19 on Thursday, reaching $66.15. The company had a trading volume of 4,653,270 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,011,240. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. 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 $43.72 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $69.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.66.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's payout ratio is currently 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.