Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Has $229,000 Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,524,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,882,000 after acquiring an additional 129,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 82.2% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $784,715.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $56.68 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $54.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.86. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KR. Melius Research began coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.09.

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.