Paloma Partners Management Co Invests $671,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 11,742 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $671,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp grew 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 acquiring an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 101.6% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus increased 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. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $54.20. The company had a trading volume of 3,178,093 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,140,519. The stock has a market cap of $39.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.07. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $1.28 dividend. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 39.59%.

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.