The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Acquired by Foundry Partners LLC

Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 14.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 404,055 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,006 shares during the quarter. Kroger makes up 1.1% of Foundry Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $23,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 1.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after purchasing an additional 36,083 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth approximately $6,524,000. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its holdings in Kroger by 82.2% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 59,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wright Investors Service Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 63.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 38,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,231,000 after acquiring an additional 15,048 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $57.61 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.54 and a 12-month high of $60.35.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Melius Research started coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.09.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This trade represents a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.