Acropolis Investment Management LLC Sells 1,585 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Acropolis Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,840 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,585 shares during the quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 218.8% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four equities 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.55.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:KR opened at $61.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.41. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.97 and a 52-week high of $61.18. The company has a market cap of $44.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

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.