Drake & Associates LLC Sells 288 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Drake & Associates LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,442 shares of the company’s stock after selling 288 shares during the quarter. Drake & Associates LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KR. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 370.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 430.8% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the period. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.08.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $55.69. The company had a trading volume of 846,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,930,269. The company has a market capitalization of $40.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $52.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.49.

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. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.19%.

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.