First Affirmative Financial Network Purchases New Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

First Affirmative Financial Network acquired a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter worth about $1,075,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 418,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,734,000 after acquiring an additional 23,440 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,026,000. Mariner LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 126,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,652,000 after acquiring an additional 14,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Kroger by 1.4% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 747,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,447,000 after purchasing an additional 10,262 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total value of $368,445.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,615,091.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,767 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.20.

Kroger Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:KR opened at $50.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $53.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.75. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.43.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

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.