Distillate Capital Partners LLC Purchases New Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Distillate Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 348,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,396,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 53.3% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 3,212 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position 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 increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 82.2% during 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. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $671,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in Kroger by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,453,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,653,000 after buying an additional 214,852 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following 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 SEC, which can be accessed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the 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 owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at $984,975.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $56.14 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $40.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.74 and a 200 day moving average of $53.89. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. The firm’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 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Argus boosted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.36.

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.