Bank of Montreal Can Has $74.23 Million Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,313,252 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,070 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.18% of Kroger worth $74,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,562,000 after purchasing an additional 723,771 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Kroger by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after buying an additional 917,923 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 96.6% during 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 buying an additional 2,643,811 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 8.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,279,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,543,000 after acquiring an additional 407,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after acquiring an additional 53,006 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.27.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $60.59 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $57.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48. 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 Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.97 and a 52-week high of $60.70.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This trade represents a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.