NorthRock Partners LLC Sells 2,065 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

NorthRock Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 32.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,233 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,065 shares during the quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 10.2% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 1,893,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,471,000 after purchasing an additional 175,080 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in Kroger by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 6,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Kroger by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 398,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,823,000 after buying an additional 4,661 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.0% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 443,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,429,000 after buying an additional 4,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 20.3% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,361,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000,000 after acquiring an additional 229,725 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were 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 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 have sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Up 4.2 %

KR opened at $59.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $43.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.48. 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 50-day simple moving average is $55.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.94. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $59.92.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given 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 yield of 2.14%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective on the stock. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.09.

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.