Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Makes New $10.34 Million Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 207,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,336,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 255.6% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 101.6% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.36.

Kroger Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:KR opened at $55.47 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $53.82 and its 200-day moving average is $53.91. 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 Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The firm has a market cap of $40.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,010 shares of company stock worth $444,056 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.