Commerce Bank Reduces Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Commerce Bank lessened its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 18.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,039 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,845 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 96.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 698.8% during the second 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 last quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 35.1% in the second quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S now owns 4,395,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,456,000 after buying an additional 1,141,029 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kroger by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,562,000 after acquiring an additional 723,771 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. 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. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four equities 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.09.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 transaction of $167,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 have sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE KR opened at $59.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $56.89 and its 200 day moving average is $54.23. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.97 and a twelve month high of $60.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for 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 company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 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.