13,276 Shares in Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) Acquired by Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger Co (NYSE:KR) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Enterprise Financial Services Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 151.6% in the 2nd quarter. Enterprise Financial Services Corp now owns 1,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc RI increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 141.8% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc RI now owns 1,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. 79.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.19, for a total transaction of $104,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 33,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $885,117.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Joseph Donnelly sold 1,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.46, for a total value of $41,648.04. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 324,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,578,570.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 134,323 shares of company stock valued at $3,537,389. Insiders own 1.34% of the company’s stock.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KR. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Kroger from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $26.00 price target on Kroger and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Guggenheim set a $26.00 price target on Kroger and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $29.00 to $26.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Kroger from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.52.

Shares of KR opened at $27.34 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $21.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Kroger Co has a 12 month low of $20.70 and a 12 month high of $30.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $28.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.34 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 21.17% and a net margin of 1.36%. The firm’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kroger Co will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.33%.

Kroger Company Profile

The Kroger Co operates as a retailer in the United States. The company operates supermarkets, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouse stores. 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.

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