Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC Has $427,000 Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,561 shares of the company’s stock after selling 658 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Kroger by 255.6% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Kroger by 101.6% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KR. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $53.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $52.92 and its 200-day moving average is $53.40. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

About Kroger

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.