Quantbot Technologies LP Purchases New Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 21,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,252,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after acquiring an additional 36,083 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,524,000. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 82.2% in 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 during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at $784,715.40. This represents a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of Kroger 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on KR shares. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Melius Research assumed coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Four equities 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.55.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $61.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.97 and a 52-week high of $61.18. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $57.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.41.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The firm 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 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

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.