Bank of Montreal Can Acquires 34,070 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,313,252 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 34,070 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Kroger were worth $74,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 96.6% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Kroger by 698.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,878,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,792,000 after buying an additional 1,643,307 shares during the last quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S now owns 4,395,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,456,000 after buying an additional 1,141,029 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Kroger by 13.4% during the second 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 5.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,562,000 after acquiring an additional 723,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR opened at $60.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $43.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.97 and a twelve month high of $60.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.29.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at $784,715.40. This trade represents a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 5.95 % 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. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on KR shares. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.27.

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.