Metis Global Partners LLC Increases Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,403 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,725 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors 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 2nd 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 last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,456,000 after purchasing an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings 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 worth $268,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,811 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,279,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,543,000 after purchasing an additional 407,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,610,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,210,000 after purchasing an additional 11,541 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 1.2 %

Kroger stock opened at $58.04 on Friday. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $60.35.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on KR. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.09.

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.