Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. Acquires New Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 255.6% during 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 increased its stake in Kroger by 334.3% during the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 101.6% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target 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. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, 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 transaction of $832,800.00. Following the sale, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Kroger news, 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 transaction of $832,800.00. Following the sale, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $54.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,775,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,732,533. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34.

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

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $1.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.39%. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

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.