Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 24,974 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp trimmed its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,470,002 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,974 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.20% of Kroger worth $89,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Clune & Associates LTD. bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $733,000. CMC Financial Group bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at $240,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,027,979,000 after buying an additional 773,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $1,810,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total value of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,308,919.22. This represents a 7.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 223,244 shares of company stock valued at $15,001,418 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $65.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization 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 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 $68.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $63.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.04.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.