Legal & General Group Plc Boosts Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 13.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 917,923 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 1.08% of Kroger worth $387,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 255.6% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 101.6% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Kroger in the second quarter valued at $28,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KR. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.36.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 shares were 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 directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,010 shares of company stock worth $444,056. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $56.52 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.93. 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. The company has a market cap of $40.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

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.