Founders Financial Securities LLC Buys Shares of 8,046 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Founders Financial Securities LLC bought a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 8,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth approximately $224,000. WoodTrust Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 90,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,151,000 after purchasing an additional 10,045 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 15,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,171 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,434,000. Finally, Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.4% during 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 in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.30.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $49.93 on Monday. 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $53.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.97. The company has a market cap of $36.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.43.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at $5,894,582.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.