The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Acquired by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC lifted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,154 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $295,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Kroger by 96.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Kroger by 698.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,792,000 after buying an additional 1,643,307 shares during the period. Maj Invest Holding A S increased its stake in Kroger by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S now owns 4,395,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,456,000 after buying an additional 1,141,029 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Kroger by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,456,000 after buying an additional 917,923 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Kroger by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,562,000 after buying an additional 723,771 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on KR. Evercore ISI increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.55.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $60.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.97 and a fifty-two week high of $61.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $57.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.33. The company has a market cap of $43.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 5.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.