U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 42,099 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 42,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,924,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,662,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,168,000 after acquiring an additional 498,995 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 7.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,833,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,551,000 after purchasing an additional 511,978 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,492,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,023,000 after purchasing an additional 78,710 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Kroger by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,005,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,242,000 after buying an additional 10,556 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,619,742 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,246,000 after buying an additional 50,177 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:KR traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $54.78. 4,937,997 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,340,941. 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 market capitalization of $39.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.61.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 39.19%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767 in the last 90 days. 1.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.