The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by MGO One Seven LLC

MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,579 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the quarter. MGO One Seven LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 255.6% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 101.6% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Argus lifted their price objective 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. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.09.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $55.91 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.62. The company has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.