Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Purchases 56,636 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 303.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 75,327 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 56,636 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Kroger were worth $5,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Steadfast Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $277,989,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth approximately $264,207,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $123,829,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,054,824 shares of the company's stock valued at $431,402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,259 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 7,363.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,706,397 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683,535 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, EVP Mary Ellen Adcock sold 34,250 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.16, for a total value of $2,437,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 184,473 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,127,098.68. This trade represents a 15.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 16,475 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.79, for a total transaction of $1,215,690.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 49,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,642,274.40. The trade was a 25.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 198,948 shares of company stock valued at $14,422,926 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KR. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Kroger and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Kroger and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Melius upgraded shares of Kroger from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $70.16.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $73.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.09, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a fifty day moving average of $69.68 and a 200 day moving average of $67.64. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $50.69 and a fifty-two week high of $74.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $45.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $45.35 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.89% and a return on equity of 34.71%. Kroger's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

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.

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