Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 310 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,306 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. 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 acquiring an additional 723,771 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Kroger by 13.4% in the second 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 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 purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,279,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,543,000 after buying an additional 407,690 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Kroger by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,610,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,210,000 after buying an additional 11,541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on KR. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.09.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $58.58 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.21. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.97 and a 52-week high of $60.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $42.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.51%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 5.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. 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.