Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC Trims Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lowered its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,089 shares of the company’s stock after selling 740 shares during the quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $521,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 13,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $826,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group increased its holdings in Kroger by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 4,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 17,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $975,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,932 shares of company stock valued at $830,303. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:KR traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $54.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 125,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,849,839. The company has a market cap of $39.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. The business’s 50-day moving average is $54.22 and its 200-day moving average is $53.88.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. 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.