Aigen Investment Management LP Makes New Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,860 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $680,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Kroger by 53.3% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company's stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 43,099 shares of the company's stock worth $2,462,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Kroger by 18.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,882,000 after acquiring an additional 129,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 159,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,115,000 after purchasing an additional 3,708 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:KR traded down $0.30 during trading on Thursday, reaching $59.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,130,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,688,259. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $42.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $56.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.07. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $60.35.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "hold" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Argus upped their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.09.

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.