OneAscent Wealth Management LLC Sells 279 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

OneAscent Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,742 shares of the company’s stock after selling 279 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KR. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. SouthState Corp boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 334.3% in the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 370.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 613.0% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 820 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of KR opened at $49.93 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The company has a market cap of $36.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.93.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $1.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.25%. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,767 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.