International Assets Investment Management LLC Increases Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4,810.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 567,829 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 556,266 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $25,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KR. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Kroger by 6.3% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 30.2% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 29,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,672,000 after buying an additional 6,764 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Kroger by 7.1% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 14,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,000 after buying an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,443,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 3.6% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 7,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. 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. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $42.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.08.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $55.42 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34. The stock has a market cap of $40.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.07 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

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.