Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. Buys Shares of 796 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 18,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 97,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,043,905.59. This represents a 23.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $754,370.19. This represents a 8.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on KR. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Eight research 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.06.

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock opened at $66.89 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $73.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. 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.