Tradition Wealth Management LLC Buys New Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Tradition Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 3,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 5.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 123,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,044,000 after buying an additional 6,640 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 31.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 22,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 5,330 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 6,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in shares of Kroger by 10.3% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 114,977 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,741,000 after purchasing an additional 10,739 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in Kroger by 38.3% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Melius Research began coverage on Kroger in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.60.

Kroger Stock Down 1.5 %

KR stock opened at $60.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $57.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $43.51 and a 1-year high of $61.18. The firm has a market cap of $43.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.51%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares in the company, valued at $784,715.40. The trade was a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.