Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 43,967 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 940,606 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 43,967 shares during the quarter. Kroger comprises approximately 2.3% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC owned 0.13% of Kroger worth $46,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the second quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,551 shares of the company's stock worth $826,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 38,527 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,924,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,045,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Kroger by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 80,731 shares of the company's stock worth $4,031,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kroger by 34.1% in the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 55,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,794,000 after purchasing an additional 14,227 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kroger to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Kroger from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Argus upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Insider Activity at Kroger

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

Kroger Trading Up 1.4 %

KR stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $53.21. 4,417,168 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,963,813. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The firm had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. Kroger's revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.