Kathmere Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 36.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,504 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,171 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KR. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $3,434,000. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 13,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Buckley Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the first quarter worth approximately $1,275,000. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 17.5% in the first quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 699 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 35.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 6,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 1,608 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 105,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,894,582.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Kroger news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total value of $1,693,450.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KR. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.30.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock opened at $49.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $36.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.88. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results 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. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The business had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s payout ratio is 39.59%.

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.