4,600 Shares in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Purchased by Jmac Enterprises LLC

Jmac Enterprises LLC bought a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KR. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Kroger by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company's stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its position in Kroger by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 18,691 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,143,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Kroger by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,241,000 after acquiring an additional 2,345 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in Kroger by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 32,431 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Kroger by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,287 shares of the company's stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Kroger Stock Up 9.7%

Kroger stock opened at $71.85 on Monday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $68.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.27. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $73.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The business had revenue of $45.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. Kroger's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on KR. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Kroger from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 5,541 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total value of $392,247.39. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $246,349.20. The trade was a 61.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 82,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,711,810.72. The trade was a 27.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 111,679 shares of company stock worth $7,865,706. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.

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