2,000 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Purchased by Tradewinds Capital Management LLC

Tradewinds Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 1.4% during the first quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 13,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 2.0% during the third quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 12,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 101.6% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendel Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 33,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on KR. Wolfe Research raised Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total value of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,615,091.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, 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 worth $3,118,767 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $50.99. 1,836,980 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,273,257. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The firm has a market cap of $36.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $1.28 dividend. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.04%. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 39.59%.

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.