Foundry Partners LLC Boosts Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 404,055 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 50,006 shares during the period. Kroger accounts for about 1.1% of Foundry Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Foundry Partners LLC owned 0.06% of Kroger worth $23,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,669,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,681,000 after purchasing an additional 83,258 shares during the last quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 492.8% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 385,920 shares of the company's stock worth $22,113,000 after acquiring an additional 320,816 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,826,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kroger by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 205,421 shares of the company's stock worth $11,771,000 after purchasing an additional 9,190 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Kroger Stock Down 0.8 %

KR stock opened at $57.61 on Thursday. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.54 and a 52 week high of $60.35. 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 $41.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48. The company's 50-day moving average price is $56.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.17.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger's payout ratio is 33.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This represents a 32.99 % 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 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Kroger

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.

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