22,268 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Purchased by Integrated Investment Consultants LLC

Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 22,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Natixis boosted its stake in Kroger by 129.1% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 78,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,472,000 after purchasing an additional 44,118 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in Kroger by 134.0% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 25,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 14,519 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the 1st quarter valued at $291,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 35.5% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 1,990 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 8.4% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,288 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Melius Research began coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $57.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $41.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.54 and a fifty-two week high of $60.35. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.17.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released 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. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.51%.

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.