Captrust Financial Advisors Boosts Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,109,411 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 28,811 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Kroger were worth $120,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,562,000 after buying an additional 723,771 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,456,000 after buying an additional 917,923 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted 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 buying an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,279,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,543,000 after buying an additional 407,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.55.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $60.50 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $57.31 and a 200 day moving average of $54.37. The stock has a market cap of $43.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 0.94 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 52-week low of $42.97 and a 52-week high of $61.18.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company 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%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

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.