Avior Wealth Management LLC Sells 599 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Avior Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,766 shares of the company’s stock after selling 599 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $3,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 370.1% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 430.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $55.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $39.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.63. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 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.