Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 4,609 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,391,547 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,609 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.19% of Kroger worth $79,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 255.6% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. SouthState Corp boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 334.3% during the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Kroger by 101.6% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,615,091.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,767 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $54.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,775,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,732,533. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The stock has a market cap of $39.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $52.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.69. 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) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.28 per share. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.39%. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.30.

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.