Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 471 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,981 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after purchasing an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,524,000. OLD National Bancorp IN raised its holdings in Kroger by 82.2% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Wright Investors Service Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 63.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 38,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 15,048 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on KR. Argus boosted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.09.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $58.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $56.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.12. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $60.35.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.