Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Buys 98,646 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1,964.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,668 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 98,646 shares during the quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $5,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 255.6% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Kroger by 101.6% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Kroger during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock opened at $56.43 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $54.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.83. 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 company has a market capitalization of $40.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the company’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KR. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. 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 research report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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 began coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.09.

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.