Signaturefd LLC Buys 275 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,742 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter worth $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,524,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 53.3% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,882,000 after acquiring an additional 129,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN increased its stake in Kroger by 82.2% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 59,949 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at $784,715.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $57.62 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $54.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.86. The stock has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS 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 issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 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.