Mizuho Bank Ltd. Acquires Shares of 1,400 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 18,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in Kroger by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the business’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 transaction 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. The trade was a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 5,541 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total value of $392,247.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,480 shares in the company, valued at $246,349.20. This represents a 61.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 228,785 shares of company stock worth $15,393,666. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $67.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $64.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.79. 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 Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $71.93.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

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.