Marshall Financial Group LLC Has $2.76 Million Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Marshall Financial Group LLC raised its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 48,209 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 723,771 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Kroger by 96.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 8.4% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:KR opened at $56.54 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $54.39 and its 200 day moving average is $53.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.81 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. 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 research report on Friday, September 13th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.36.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related 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 transaction of $167,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of Kroger 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. 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 link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the 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 sale, 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 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Kroger

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.