Equitable Trust Co. Purchases 7,560 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Equitable Trust Co. grew its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 144.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,780 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,560 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on KR. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Melius Research began coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.09.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $59.91 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.79 and a 200-day moving average of $54.00. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $60.24. 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 company has a market cap of $43.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The business 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 firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.51%.

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.