SYM FINANCIAL Corp Takes $237,000 Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 261,368 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 129,873 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 82.2% during the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after purchasing an additional 59,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $671,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research raised Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Argus lifted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 7.2 %

NYSE KR opened at $55.21 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $53.30 and a 200-day moving average of $53.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $39.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 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.