Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Purchases 1,848 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 32.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,500 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KR. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 53.3% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 159,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,115,000 after acquiring an additional 3,708 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP boosted its stake in Kroger by 1,303.3% in the 1st quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 179,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,263,000 after purchasing an additional 166,849 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This trade represents a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on KR. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.09.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $59.08 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $60.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.16 and its 200 day moving average is $54.07. The company has a market cap of $42.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.