Quarry LP Buys 8,158 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Quarry LP boosted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 359.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,425 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,158 shares during the period. Quarry LP’s holdings in Kroger were worth $597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 53,006 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after buying an additional 36,083 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,524,000. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 82.2% during the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after buying an additional 59,949 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were 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 approximately $4,142,036.44. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % 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 quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $59.94 on Thursday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.51 and a fifty-two week high of $61.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.53. 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 firm has a market cap of $43.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.64.

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.