Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 207,000 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 207,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,336,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 255.6% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 101.6% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction 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. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,010 shares of company stock valued at $444,056 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Kroger Stock Down 2.0 %

Kroger stock opened at $55.47 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.91. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The company has a market cap of $40.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kroger to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Kroger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.36.

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.

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