Alaethes Wealth LLC Acquires 352 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Alaethes Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,854 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 53.3% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,380,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,115,000 after acquiring an additional 261,368 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 18.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,882,000 after purchasing an additional 129,873 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its stake in Kroger by 82.2% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 59,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $671,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on KR. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.09.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $55.39 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.84. 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 company has a market cap of $39.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of Kroger 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s 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. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.