Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC Invests $332,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $332,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 255.6% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 101.6% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other 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 transaction of $224,070.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,767 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE KR traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $52.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,642,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,235,858. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.44. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.91, a PEG ratio of 0.82 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.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.28 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.77%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.