D Orazio & Associates Inc. Acquires Shares of 5,221 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 5,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,087,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,427 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,453,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,653,000 after buying an additional 214,852 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $229,863,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,610,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,210,000 after acquiring an additional 11,541 shares during the period. Finally, Maj Invest Holding A S grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S now owns 4,395,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,029 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $51.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $37.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

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.