Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC Has $1.39 Million Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC raised its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 125.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,495 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,391 shares during the period. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $1,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company's stock worth $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company's stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 3,373 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 94,644 shares of the company's stock worth $5,856,000 after buying an additional 14,078 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 12,024 shares of the company's stock worth $735,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Adero Partners LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $219,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.44, for a total value of $2,083,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 127,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,870,057.28. The trade was a 19.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 306,818 shares of company stock valued at $20,994,769 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:KR traded down $0.13 on Friday, hitting $66.11. 6,136,978 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,743,651. The stock has a market cap of $43.69 billion, a PE ratio of 17.49, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.11 and a 200-day moving average of $64.77. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $73.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Guggenheim raised 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. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.06.

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.