Portfolio Design Labs LLC Sells 31,448 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 80.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,743 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,448 shares during the period. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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. Melius Research initiated coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.09.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $58.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.21, a PEG ratio of 0.90 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.15. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.31 and a fifty-two week high of $60.35.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.