Quantbot Technologies LP Buys Shares of 21,845 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 21,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,252,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 96.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Kroger by 698.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,307 shares in the last quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S boosted its holdings in Kroger by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S now owns 4,395,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,029 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew 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 purchasing an additional 917,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Kroger by 5.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,562,000 after buying an additional 723,771 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Up 1.0 %

KR opened at $61.08 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.97 and a 12 month high of $61.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $57.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.41. The company has a market cap of $44.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The firm 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 company posted $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $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 have sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.55.

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.