Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Buys 14,163 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 11.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,903 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,163 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Kroger were worth $6,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 53.3% during the first 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. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,380,764 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,115,000 after buying an additional 261,368 shares during the last quarter. 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 during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 82.2% during the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 59,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $671,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:KR traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $52.50. 3,432,595 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,967,089. The firm has a market cap of $37.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.45. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $52.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.15.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The business had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. Kroger's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 17th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kroger to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.64.

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.