D.A. Davidson & CO. Purchases 942 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,211 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Mendel Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $826,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Kroger by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M3 Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 5.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $61.08 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.97 and a fifty-two week 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.41. The company has a market cap of $44.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.55.

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.