Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,998 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in Kroger by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,427 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Kroger by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,453,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,653,000 after acquiring an additional 214,852 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Kroger by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,592,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,546,000 after acquiring an additional 503,839 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,863,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Kroger by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,610,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,210,000 after purchasing an additional 11,541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $53.36 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.