Phillips Wealth Planners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,074 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 218.8% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on KR. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.09.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock opened at $56.57 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.91. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $40.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.51%.

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.