Bleakley Financial Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,726 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the second quarter valued at about $6,524,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 53.3% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted 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 worth $46,882,000 after buying an additional 129,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN grew its holdings in Kroger by 82.2% during the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after buying an additional 59,949 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Melius Research initiated coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.09.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR stock opened at $56.35 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The firm has a market cap of $40.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.