Equitable Trust Co. Invests $261,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Equitable Trust Co. acquired a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 5,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 100.0% in the second quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 42,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 21,000 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 21.0% in the second quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 44,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after acquiring an additional 7,748 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 10.6% in the second quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the second quarter valued at approximately $414,000. Finally, Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 8.3% in the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 5,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $53.21 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $52.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $38.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.16, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

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 value of $109,060.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on 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 Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wolfe Research raised Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

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.