Summit Trail Advisors LLC Sells 484 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,596 shares of the company’s stock after selling 484 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 255.6% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the first quarter worth $29,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.36.

Insider Activity at Kroger

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

Kroger Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $56.14 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $53.74 and its 200 day moving average is $53.89. The company has a market cap of $40.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45. 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 earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

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.