Field & Main Bank Invests $45,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Field & Main Bank bought a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 2.3% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,662,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,168,000 after purchasing an additional 498,995 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Kroger by 7.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,833,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,551,000 after purchasing an additional 511,978 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Kroger by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,492,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,023,000 after purchasing an additional 78,710 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,005,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,242,000 after buying an additional 10,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,619,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,246,000 after buying an additional 50,177 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,615,091.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total value of $368,445.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,615,091.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767. 1.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KR. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on 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 upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Down 0.5 %

Kroger stock traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $55.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,008,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,845,969. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $54.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.37. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $39.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 39.19%.

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.