ZEGA Investments LLC Makes New $515,000 Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

ZEGA Investments LLC purchased a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $515,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 212,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,282,348 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE KR opened at $65.38 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $68.51. The stock has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS 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 repurchase $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KR. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

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.