Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC Takes $320,000 Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,226 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,011 shares of the company's stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $120,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $49,760,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 239.0% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 50,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,063,000 after buying an additional 35,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 12,259 shares of the company's stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Kroger Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:KR traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,385,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,719,766. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $69.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.49. 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 twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $73.63. The stock has a market cap of $45.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares in the company, valued at $806,523.90. The trade was a 9.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 4,492 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.53, for a total value of $298,852.76. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,480 shares in the company, valued at $231,524.40. This represents a 56.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Melius upgraded Kroger from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Kroger from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.06.

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.