Clear Rock Advisors LLC Buys 689 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Clear Rock Advisors LLC grew its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,811 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 689 shares during the period. Clear Rock Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 1.4% in the first quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 13,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $826,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 4.3% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 4,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 1.2% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 17,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,010 shares of company stock valued at $444,056 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR opened at $56.71 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $53.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87. 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 $40.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Kroger 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.