Cutler Investment Counsel LLC Has $9.12 Million Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC lessened its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 199,602 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,396 shares during the quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $9,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4,810.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,955,000 after purchasing an additional 556,266 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Kroger by 4.3% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 284,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,715,000 after buying an additional 11,707 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Kroger by 49.3% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 115,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,165,000 after buying an additional 38,119 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 239.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 168,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,519,000 after buying an additional 118,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 156,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,143,000 after buying an additional 17,380 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on KR. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Guggenheim raised 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.17.

Kroger Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of KR stock traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $56.47. 1,990,307 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,937,661. The company has a market cap of $40.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.74. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted 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 net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The business had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Kroger’s payout ratio 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.