Signaturefd LLC Has $1.30 Million Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,742 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake 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 valued at $268,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Kroger by 698.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643,307 shares in the last quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,141,029 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 917,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on KR. Argus raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Melius Research began coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, 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 transaction of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business’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 value of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at $784,715.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $57.62 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.86. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $41.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released 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. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. Kroger’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

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.