The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 47.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,796 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,700 shares during the quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,088,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 12.2% in the first quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its position in Kroger by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 17,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $879,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 11,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 2.7% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 8,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Kroger Price Performance

KR stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $55.45. 2,985,445 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,948,646. The stock has a market cap of $40.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.56.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. Kroger’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.