Ninety One UK Ltd Lowers Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Ninety One UK Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,344,704 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,911 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd’s holdings in Kroger were worth $61,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the first quarter worth about $28,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 430.8% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Kroger Stock Up 0.1 %

Kroger stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $55.33. 1,261,072 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,944,162. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $52.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.69. The company has a market cap of $39.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted 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 analysts’ expectations of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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