Coho Partners Ltd. lowered its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR – Get Rating) by 99.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,602 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,564,830 shares during the period. Coho Partners Ltd.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $696,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,265,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,555,388,000 after acquiring an additional 438,869 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 5.5% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 65,735,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,875,933,000 after purchasing an additional 3,443,687 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 1.9% in the second 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 during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Kroger by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,522,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,344,000 after buying an additional 1,002,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Kroger by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,483,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $502,469,000 after buying an additional 139,059 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.03% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Kroger from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, December 5th. MKM Partners cut their price objective on Kroger from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 5th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.25.
Kroger Trading Down 0.7 %
Kroger stock opened at $46.78 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $45.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.76. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $41.81 and a 52 week high of $62.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.47.
Kroger (NYSE:KR – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.09. The business 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%. Kroger’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.53 EPS for the current year.
Kroger Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.88%.
Insider Activity at Kroger
In other Kroger news, SVP Mary Ellen Adcock sold 43,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.27, for a total value of $1,903,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 135,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,003,498.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Kroger news, SVP Mary Ellen Adcock sold 43,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.27, for a total value of $1,903,610.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 135,611 shares in the company, valued at $6,003,498.97. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Todd A. Foley sold 3,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.95, for a total value of $182,400.75. Following 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 112,299 shares of company stock valued at $5,124,089. Corporate insiders own 1.35% of the company’s stock.
Kroger Company Profile
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.