apricus wealth LLC Raises Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

apricus wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 66.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,590 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,400 shares during the period. Kroger makes up 1.8% of apricus wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. apricus wealth LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 255.6% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Kroger during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $167,265.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $167,265.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $56.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.91 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $54.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.86. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

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.