Avestar Capital LLC Raises Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Avestar Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 12.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,154 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Kroger by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 906,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,769,000 after acquiring an additional 20,200 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Kroger by 51.7% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 11,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 3,872 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 93.5% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 10,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 5,014 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 198.6% during the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 13,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after buying an additional 8,937 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter valued at $67,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Four investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction 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 approximately $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 90 days, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $60.52 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.19 and a 200-day moving average of $54.33. The company has a market capitalization of $43.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.97 and a 1-year high of $61.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released 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. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. 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.