Modern Wealth Management LLC Makes New $654,000 Investment in The Kroger Co. $KR

Modern Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 9,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Capital Analysts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 46.7% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:KR opened at $68.38 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $54.51 and a 12 month high of $74.90. The company has a market cap of $45.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.93.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 11th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $33.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.08 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 32.62%. The company’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Kroger has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.700-4.800 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.53%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, EVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 37,960 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.44, for a total transaction of $2,749,822.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 75,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,448,791.92. The trade was a 33.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 16,475 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.79, for a total transaction of $1,215,690.25. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 49,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,642,274.40. This trade represents a 25.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 198,948 shares of company stock worth $14,422,926 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on KR. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Roth Capital raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, July 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.58.

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.