Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Makes New Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 10,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of KR. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 370.1% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 430.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 613.0% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.17.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total value of $1,693,450.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total value of $1,693,450.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,180 shares of company stock worth $2,750,322. 1.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $55.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $54.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.24.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Kroger Company 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.