Jackson Wealth Management LLC Has $1.88 Million Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Jackson Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 24.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,880 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,399 shares during the quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,878,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kroger by 4,810.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,955,000 after buying an additional 556,266 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 53.3% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 3,212 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,380,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,115,000 after buying an additional 261,368 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,882,000 after buying an additional 129,873 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $671,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.64.

Kroger Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of KR stock traded down $0.76 during trading on Friday, reaching $54.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,284,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,950,304. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $52.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.27. 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 company has a market cap of $39.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.45. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.42%. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 39.59%.

Kroger 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.