The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Purchased by Aspire Private Capital LLC

Aspire Private Capital LLC boosted its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 15.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,723 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,941 shares during the quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter worth approximately $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,427 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 378.8% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 765,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,988,000 after purchasing an additional 605,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 86.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,274,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,840,000 after purchasing an additional 590,818 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on KR. StockNews.com upgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI dropped 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. Finally, Wolfe Research raised 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 issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.64.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $53.24. The stock had a trading volume of 2,631,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,037,414. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $38.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.40, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.45. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $52.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.59.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. Kroger’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.62%. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.69%.

Kroger 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.