The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 65.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,722 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,235 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 4,810.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,955,000 after acquiring an additional 556,266 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Kroger by 4.3% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 284,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,715,000 after buying an additional 11,707 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,380,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,115,000 after acquiring an additional 261,368 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $671,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted 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.

Kroger Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:KR opened at $49.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The stock has a market cap of $35.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.87.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on KR. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the 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 sale, 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 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.