Wedmont Private Capital Buys 1,156 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,277 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,156 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Kroger were worth $407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 255.6% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 101.6% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday. Argus raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock 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, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.36.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at $784,715.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at $784,715.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,932 shares of company stock worth $830,303 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of KR opened at $55.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $54.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

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.