Apella Capital LLC Invests $645,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $645,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius upgraded shares of Kroger from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $68.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $2,162,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 97,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,043,905.59. The trade was a 23.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $72,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,473 shares in the company, valued at $754,370.19. The trade was a 8.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 306,818 shares of company stock worth $20,994,769 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE KR traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $66.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,136,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,736,251. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.58. The company's 50-day moving average is $69.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $49.04 and a 1-year high of $73.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Kroger 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.