Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC Has $1.03 Million Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,792 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 50,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,872,000 after buying an additional 7,609 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 70,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 354,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,296,000 after purchasing an additional 26,231 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 220.9% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Kroger by 1.2% during the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 179,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,239,000 after buying an additional 2,060 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,308,919.22. This represents a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 258,785 shares of company stock valued at $17,476,866. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $68.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market cap of $45.11 billion, a PE ratio of 18.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $71.93. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $65.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.33.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Melius downgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

Kroger 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.