The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Clarius Group LLC

Clarius Group LLC decreased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,821 shares of the company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the third quarter valued at about $426,000. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger in the third quarter valued at about $250,000. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in Kroger by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 33,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,892,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $55.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $40.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.91. 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 Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KR. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business’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 transaction of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $784,715.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,932 shares of company stock valued at $830,303. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.