Unique Wealth Strategies LLC Makes New $714,000 Investment in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 15,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $714,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth about $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 370.1% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in Kroger by 430.8% during the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 613.0% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. 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. Guggenheim increased their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total value of $1,693,450.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,180 shares of company stock worth $2,750,322 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE:KR traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $55.49. 3,472,039 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,160,883. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.24. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

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.