The Kroger Co. $KR Shares Bought by Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,403 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Kroger were worth $704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Steadfast Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $277,989,000. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $264,207,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the first quarter worth $178,385,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $123,829,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Kroger by 7,363.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,706,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,535 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Massa sold 8,415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $622,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 118,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,788,314. This represents a 6.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $272,834.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 85,850 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,718.50. This trade represents a 4.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 198,948 shares of company stock valued at $14,422,926 over the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $69.67 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.95. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $50.69 and a one year high of $74.90. The company has a market cap of $46.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.89% and a return on equity of 34.71%. The company had revenue of $45.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 38.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Melius raised Kroger from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Melius Research raised shares of Kroger from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 target price on shares of Kroger and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.53.

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.