AE Wealth Management LLC Acquires 31,379 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 60.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,175 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,379 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $4,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,154,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,596,000 after purchasing an additional 211,400 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 18.5% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,057 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 21.9% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 565,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,236,000 after buying an additional 101,450 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $432,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,536,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,644,743.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value 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 $984,975.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $55.39 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The firm has a market cap of $39.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. Kroger’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.