Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC Sells 728 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,215 shares of the company’s stock after selling 728 shares during the period. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the second quarter worth $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,524,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,697,000 after purchasing an additional 36,083 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN raised its position in Kroger by 82.2% in the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 59,949 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of KR traded up $0.06 on Friday, hitting $58.82. 278,315 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,673,999. The company has a market capitalization of $42.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.07. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $60.35.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released 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 company had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. Kroger’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective 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. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.09.

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.