Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 3,605 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KR. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.09.

Kroger Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $56.57 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $40.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $55.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.91.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

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.