Family Firm Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,464 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $173,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KR. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 12,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $568,000 after buying an additional 859 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $515,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Kroger by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 72,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,314,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 1,999 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $232,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:KR traded down $0.27 on Friday, hitting $51.95. 2,818,462 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,995,348. The company has a market cap of $37.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.94. 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 Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. Kroger’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on KR. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Wolfe Research raised Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

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.