Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 9,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $659,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,027,979,000 after acquiring an additional 773,182 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,479,000 after acquiring an additional 416,962 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,113,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,060,000 after acquiring an additional 120,250 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $598,390,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,829,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $478,768,000 after acquiring an additional 916,230 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE KR opened at $66.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company has a market capitalization of $43.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.87. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $73.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 17,685 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.19, for a total value of $1,170,570.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,124 shares in the company, valued at $9,208,617.56. This trade represents a 11.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 31,271 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $2,160,200.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 82,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,711,810.72. The trade was a 27.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,669 shares of company stock worth $13,155,425. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Melius Research raised shares of Kroger from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.06.

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.