SGL Investment Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 11,688 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

SGL Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $691,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Kroger by 6.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Kroger by 5.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,562,000 after acquiring an additional 723,771 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Kroger by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,456,000 after acquiring an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 96.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 8.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,279,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,543,000 after purchasing an additional 407,690 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This represents a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KR. BMO Capital Markets lowered Kroger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. 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 objective on the stock. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.33.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $59.23 on Monday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $43.51 and a twelve month high of $61.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.62. The stock has a market cap of $42.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.86%.

Kroger 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.