Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC Invests $207,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KR. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 255.6% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp raised its holdings in Kroger by 334.3% during the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 101.6% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.64.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $51.95. The stock had a trading volume of 2,815,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,995,348. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.94. The firm has a market cap of $37.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.45. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

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.