Veery Capital LLC Invests $203,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Veery Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 3,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $58.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $60.35.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Argus lifted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.