Sapient Capital LLC Invests $647,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 14,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $647,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Power Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $766,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $1,924,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194 shares during the last quarter. SouthState Corp boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 334.3% during the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 306,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,000,000 after purchasing an additional 27,711 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767. 1.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim lifted their price target 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

Kroger Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE KR opened at $54.89 on Monday. 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 Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.67. The company has a market capitalization of $39.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

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 paid 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 2.11%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.