Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC Acquires 1,046 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,610 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares during the quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the second quarter worth about $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,524,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in Kroger by 53.3% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Kroger by 18.8% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,882,000 after purchasing an additional 129,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 82.2% in the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 59,949 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.36.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $56.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.88.

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 the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. 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. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,932 shares of company stock valued at $830,303 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger 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.