Northeast Financial Consultants Inc Purchases Shares of 4,000 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Northeast Financial Consultants Inc acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter worth $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 218.8% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was 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 directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR opened at $59.23 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $43.51 and a twelve month high of $61.37. The company has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.81 and a 200 day moving average of $54.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The business had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 is presently 33.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.33.

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.