Plato Investment Management Ltd Has $1.18 Million Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,647 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 554 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,182,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $826,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 17,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $975,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of Kroger 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % 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. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Argus lifted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas started coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Four investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.09.

Kroger Trading Down 0.8 %

Kroger stock opened at $59.08 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $60.35. 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 $42.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.07.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

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.