The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 5,297 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 392,087 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,297 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.05% of Kroger worth $23,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.06.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $72.87. The stock had a trading volume of 5,339,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,610,697. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $73.63. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $48.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $67.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.06.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $34.96 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total value of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.