6,504 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Purchased by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4,810.7% in 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. grew its holdings in Kroger by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 284,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,715,000 after buying an additional 11,707 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $63,115,000 after acquiring an additional 261,368 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $671,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 156,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,143,000 after acquiring an additional 17,380 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $50.56 on Tuesday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.97. The firm has a market cap of $36.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $1.28 dividend. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.13%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total value of $1,693,450.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.30.

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.