Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Sells 23,090 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 54.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,303 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,090 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 255.6% in the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 334.3% in the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 101.6% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on KR. Wolfe Research raised Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.64.

Kroger Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE KR traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $54.20. 3,183,322 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,140,483. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.01. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.52, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The firm had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $1.28 dividend. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.45%. 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.