41,304 Shares in The Kroger Co. $KR Acquired by Element Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Element Capital Management LLC acquired 41,304 shares of The Kroger Co., valued at approximately $2.8 million, which represents 0.7% of its holdings.
• Kroger plans to increase its quarterly dividend from $0.32 to $0.35 per share, offering a dividend yield of 2.0%.
• Analysts have recently upgraded Kroger's stock ratings, with several institutions raising their price targets, reflecting a consensus rating of "Hold".

Element Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 41,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,796,000. Kroger makes up about 0.7% of Element Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Steadfast Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $277,989,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $264,207,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $123,829,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 7,363.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,706,397 shares of the company's stock worth $115,506,000 after buying an additional 1,683,535 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $69.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,392,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,594,552. 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 company has a market cap of $46.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.59. The business's 50 day moving average price is $70.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.37. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.69 and a fifty-two week high of $74.90.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $45.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $45.35 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 34.71% and a net margin of 1.89%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Kroger's payout ratio is 38.15%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, EVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 37,960 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.44, for a total transaction of $2,749,822.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 75,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,448,791.92. This represents a 33.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 16,475 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.79, for a total transaction of $1,215,690.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 49,360 shares in the company, valued at $3,642,274.40. This trade represents a 25.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 198,948 shares of company stock worth $14,422,926. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price target on Kroger and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $82.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.53.

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.