Impact Partnership Wealth LLC Takes $479,000 Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 53.3% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company's stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Kroger by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,380,764 shares of the company's stock worth $63,115,000 after buying an additional 261,368 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,882,000 after acquiring an additional 129,873 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 82.2% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company's stock worth $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 59,949 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $671,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Kroger Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE KR traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $53.37. 4,299,331 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,959,892. The stock has a market cap of $38.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.45. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This is a boost from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on KR. Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Finally, Argus upped their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.64.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.