Principal Street Partners LLC Decreases Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Principal Street Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,176 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 5.6% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Kroger by 13.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,456,000 after acquiring an additional 917,923 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 96.6% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $261,543,000 after purchasing an additional 407,690 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kroger by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 value of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at $784,715.40. This represents a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on KR. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. 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, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.27.

Kroger Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:KR opened at $60.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.97 and a 52 week high of $60.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.07 and a 200-day moving average of $54.29.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 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 firm had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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