Graypoint LLC Acquires 424 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,518 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S acquired a new position in Kroger during the 1st quarter worth approximately $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after buying an additional 1,123,427 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in Kroger by 337.4% during the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 922,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,060,000 after buying an additional 711,600 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Kroger by 86.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,274,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,840,000 after buying an additional 590,818 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

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 transaction of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KR. StockNews.com raised Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Wolfe Research raised Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.64.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR stock opened at $53.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $38.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $52.84 and a 200-day moving average of $53.35. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

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.