Assetmark Inc. Raises Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Assetmark Inc. increased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 245.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,966 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,562,000 after purchasing an additional 723,771 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Kroger by 13.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after buying an additional 917,923 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 96.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 8.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,279,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,543,000 after acquiring an additional 407,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,610,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,210,000 after acquiring an additional 11,541 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Melius Research began coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. 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 MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.09.

Kroger Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $58.02 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $60.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.12. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $41.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 5.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 over the last quarter. 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.