Invesco LLC Acquires Shares of 3,851 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Invesco LLC bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 3,851 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kroger by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,562,000 after acquiring an additional 723,771 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Kroger by 13.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after purchasing an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Kroger by 96.6% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.3% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. 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 available at this link. In related news, 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $56.57. 3,062,433 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,745,688. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on KR. Melius Research started coverage on Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.09.

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.