Bridgewater Advisors Inc. Invests $448,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,281 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $448,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company's stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 23,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,433,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 21,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,308,000 after buying an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc raised its position in shares of Kroger by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 7,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 1,174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, EVP Yael Cosset sold 71,224 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total transaction of $5,234,251.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 139,124 shares in the company, valued at $10,224,222.76. This represents a 33.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $2,162,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 97,737 shares in the company, valued at $7,043,905.59. This trade represents a 23.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 243,815 shares of company stock worth $17,652,983 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Kroger Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of KR stock traded down $0.86 on Friday, hitting $71.36. The stock had a trading volume of 5,350,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,183,049. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's 50 day moving average is $68.88 and its 200-day moving average is $66.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.95. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $50.69 and a 52-week high of $74.11.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $45.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.35 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. This is an increase from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on KR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Melius Research raised shares of Kroger from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.00.

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.