Moors & Cabot Inc. Acquires 1,760 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 20.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,565 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at $311,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Kroger by 5.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,562,000 after acquiring an additional 723,771 shares during the period. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. raised its stake in Kroger by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 14,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Kroger by 93.6% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 20,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 9,714 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Operations LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 44.6% during the 2nd quarter. Allen Operations LLC now owns 311,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,553,000 after purchasing an additional 96,090 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Argus boosted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.09.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $54.83 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $53.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week 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 data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

About Kroger

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.