CreativeOne Wealth LLC Buys 3,972 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,328 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,972 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Kroger by 698.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,307 shares during the last quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 35.1% during the second quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S now owns 4,395,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,456,000 after buying an additional 1,141,029 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 13.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after buying an additional 917,923 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Kroger by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,562,000 after acquiring an additional 723,771 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KR. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.55.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:KR opened at $60.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.31 and a 200 day moving average of $54.37. 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 52 week low of $42.97 and a 52 week high of $61.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 2.12%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.