Axecap Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 4,899 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Axecap Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the first quarter worth $1,081,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 49.7% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 13,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $799,000 after acquiring an additional 4,642 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 65.3% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 4,235 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.5% in the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 35.4% in the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 6,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Melius Research started coverage on Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. 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 for the company. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. This trade 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was 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 approximately $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $784,715.40. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock opened at $57.62 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.86. 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 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released 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 return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. 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 2.22%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

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.