Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Takes $301,000 Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI acquired a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. SouthState Corp increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 334.3% during the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,894,582.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,180 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,322 in the last 90 days. 1.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $55.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,472,039 shares, 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 $48.29. The company has a market capitalization of $40.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48. 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 quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. Guggenheim increased their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.17.

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.