ASB Consultores LLC Has $212,000 Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

ASB Consultores LLC cut its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 27.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,239 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,571 shares during the period. ASB Consultores LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $212,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 255.6% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 period. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KR shares. Argus raised their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

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

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $55.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $39.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.84.

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 business had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. Kroger’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 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.