Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE Reduces Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE decreased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 17.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,331 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE’s holdings in Kroger were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nwam LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 33.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares during the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department grew its position in Kroger by 115.5% in the first quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 99,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,709,000 after acquiring an additional 53,567 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 29.3% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 302,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,279,000 after acquiring an additional 68,516 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in Kroger by 303.1% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 25,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after purchasing an additional 19,065 shares during the period. Finally, Arjuna Capital lifted its stake in shares of Kroger by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 94,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,409,000 after purchasing an additional 5,591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.09.

Kroger Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of KR stock opened at $58.02 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $60.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $56.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $784,715.40. This represents a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger 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.