The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by Valley National Advisers Inc.

Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 26.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,154 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,501 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.0% during the third quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 12,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $646,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 101.6% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendel Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 33,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,514,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.30.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,615,091.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $50.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.06. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $1.28 dividend. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.09%. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.59%.

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.