Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Has $4.35 Million Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 21.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,012 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,529 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $4,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 255.6% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 101.6% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at $984,975.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.09.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $54.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $39.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $53.56 and a 200-day moving average of $53.79. 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 Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

About Kroger

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.