The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stake Reduced by Man Group plc

Man Group plc lowered its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 75.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 151,773 shares of the company's stock after selling 457,064 shares during the period. Man Group plc's holdings in Kroger were worth $9,281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $598,390,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $264,207,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $123,829,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,054,824 shares of the company's stock valued at $431,402,000 after buying an additional 1,981,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1,045.0% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,562,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,553,000 after buying an additional 1,426,131 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Melius Research raised Kroger from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Melius raised shares of Kroger from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.06.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock traded down $1.00 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $67.90. 4,923,403 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,672,096. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $68.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.05. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $73.63. The company has a market capitalization of $44.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 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 business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $72,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,473 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $754,370.19. This represents a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

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.