Kroger Company (The) (KR) Shares Bought by North Star Investment Management Corp.

North Star Investment Management Corp. increased its stake in Kroger Company (The) (NYSE:KR) by 31.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,443 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,190 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Kroger Company (The) were worth $313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KR. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger Company (The) by 3,334.2% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 72,026,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,124,067,000 after buying an additional 69,929,316 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger Company (The) by 54.1% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 41,963,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,497,000 after buying an additional 14,723,540 shares during the period. CI Global Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger Company (The) during the first quarter valued at approximately $270,002,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger Company (The) by 15.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,348,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,015,609,000 after buying an additional 9,054,273 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger Company (The) by 172.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 6,284,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,862,000 after buying an additional 3,980,341 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.84% of the company’s stock.

Shares of Kroger Company (KR) opened at 23.265 on Friday. Kroger Company has a 52-week low of $20.46 and a 52-week high of $36.46. The company has a market cap of $20.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.007 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.00 and a 200-day moving average of $29.47.

Kroger Company (The) (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 15th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.58. Kroger Company (The) had a net margin of 1.35% and a return on equity of 29.10%. The business had revenue of $36.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. Kroger Company (The)’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Kroger Company will post $1.98 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Kroger Company (The)’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 11th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.60%. Kroger Company (The)’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.92%.

Kroger Company (The) announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, June 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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KR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank AG restated a “buy” rating on shares of Kroger Company (The) in a report on Friday, May 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Kroger Company (The) from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 23rd. BMO Capital Markets set a $32.00 target price on shares of Kroger Company (The) and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Kroger Company (The) from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, June 19th. Finally, J P Morgan Chase & Co downgraded shares of Kroger Company (The) from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $34.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Kroger Company (The) currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.51.

In other Kroger Company (The) news, insider J Michael Schlotman acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.73 per share, for a total transaction of $45,460.00. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Joseph Donnelly sold 22,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $672,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 254,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,620,240. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,200 shares of company stock worth $1,331,430 in the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Company (The) Company Profile

The Kroger Co (Kroger) manufactures and processes food for sale in its supermarkets. The Company operates supermarkets, multi-department stores, jewelry stores and convenience stores throughout the United States. As of January 28, 2017, it had operated approximately 4,000 owned or leased supermarkets, convenience stores, fine jewelry stores, distribution warehouses and food production plants through divisions, subsidiaries or affiliates.

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