Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Acquires New Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 380,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,016,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 255.6% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Kroger by 101.6% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Argus increased their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.64.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $55.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $53.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.56.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 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.