The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Signaturefd LLC

Signaturefd LLC lowered its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,142 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,258 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth about $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 370.1% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 430.8% during the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 613.0% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KR. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $56.93 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The firm has a market cap of $41.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

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.