Cerity Partners LLC Has $16.45 Million Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 287,033 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 70,009 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $16,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after acquiring an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after buying an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the second quarter worth $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the second quarter valued at $6,524,000. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in Kroger by 82.2% during 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 during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.27.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at $784,715.40. This represents a 32.99 % 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 valued at $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE KR opened at $60.09 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.73, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.25. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.97 and a 12 month high of $60.58.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

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.