Phillips Financial Management LLC Acquires Shares of 3,509 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Phillips Financial Management LLC bought a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KR. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 29.3% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 302,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,279,000 after buying an additional 68,516 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Kroger by 303.1% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 25,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 19,065 shares during the period. Arjuna Capital increased its position in shares of Kroger by 6.3% during the first quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 94,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,409,000 after acquiring an additional 5,591 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 13.1% in the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 10,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Kroger by 12.5% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 525,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,384,000 after purchasing an additional 58,580 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KR. Argus lifted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas began coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Four equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.09.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR opened at $58.02 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $56.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.11. The company has a market cap of $41.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $60.35.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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