7,965 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Bought by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Czech National Bank raised its position in Kroger by 9.5% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 127,558 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,369,000 after purchasing an additional 11,102 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Kroger by 6.2% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,121 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.5% during the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 425,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,265,000 after acquiring an additional 10,218 shares during the period. Foguth Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,106,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth about $315,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. BMO Capital Markets cut Kroger from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.33.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at $784,715.40. This represents a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $59.23 on Monday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $43.51 and a 12 month high of $61.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $42.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 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 net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 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.