4,079 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Purchased by JGP Wealth Management LLC

JGP Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 53.3% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,380,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,115,000 after purchasing an additional 261,368 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,882,000 after purchasing an additional 129,873 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $671,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 156,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,143,000 after purchasing an additional 17,380 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of KR traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $53.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,847,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,052,704. The business has a fifty day moving average of $52.35 and a 200 day moving average of $52.54. The company has a market cap of $38.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.45. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced 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 return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The business 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. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.50%. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

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.