Bleakley Financial Group LLC Purchases 215 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,726 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Kroger by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,562,000 after purchasing an additional 723,771 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in 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. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 8.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,279,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,543,000 after buying an additional 407,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,610,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,210,000 after buying an additional 11,541 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four investment 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were 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 trade represents 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 through this link. In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 0.3 %

KR opened at $56.35 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $54.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Kroger Company 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.