Riverview Trust Co Makes New $53,000 Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. SouthState Corp grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 334.3% in the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 370.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 613.0% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR traded down $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,913,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,231,043. The firm has a market cap of $35.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.43. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.54 and a 200-day moving average of $50.83. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,767. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.30.

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.