IHT Wealth Management LLC Acquires 3,358 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Posted by MarketBeat News on Mar 19th, 2023

IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR – Get Rating) by 36.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,568 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,358 shares during the quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $550,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,265,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,555,388,000 after buying an additional 438,869 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 65,735,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,875,933,000 after acquiring an additional 3,443,687 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 16,746,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $792,589,000 after purchasing an additional 318,500 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 9.5% in the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,522,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,044 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Kroger by 1.2% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,483,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $502,469,000 after purchasing an additional 139,059 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price on shares of Kroger from $64.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Kroger from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Kroger from $47.00 to $42.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Kroger in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.25.

Insider Activity

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In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 62,414 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.47, for a total value of $2,900,378.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 63,079 shares in the company, valued at $2,931,281.13. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 62,414 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.47, for a total transaction of $2,900,378.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 63,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,931,281.13. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Todd A. Foley sold 3,885 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.95, for a total transaction of $182,400.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 28,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,336,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 112,299 shares of company stock valued at $5,124,089. 1.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $46.78 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $41.81 and a twelve month high of $62.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.87.

Kroger (NYSE:KR – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $34.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.89 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 1.51%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.53 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.88%.

About Kroger

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The Kroger Co engages in the operation of supermarkets and multi-department stores. Its brands include Big K, Check This Out?, Heritage Farm, Simple Truth, and Simple Truth Organic. The company was founded by Barney Kroger in 1883 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, OH.