Sei Investments Co. Buys 51,082 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 892,338 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 51,082 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.12% of Kroger worth $44,560,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 255.6% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 101.6% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $55.39 on Monday. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34. The company has a market cap of $39.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.89.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

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.