First National Bank of Hutchinson lessened its holdings in Kroger Co by 9.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 95,136 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,550 shares during the period. Kroger accounts for approximately 1.4% of First National Bank of Hutchinson’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. First National Bank of Hutchinson’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,890,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,918,063,000 after acquiring an additional 660,052 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc grew its position in Kroger by 1.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc now owns 65,890,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,918,063,000 after acquiring an additional 660,052 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 57,852,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,590,947,000 after acquiring an additional 2,587,501 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Kroger by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,333,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,680,000 after acquiring an additional 2,485,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its position in Kroger by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 20,050,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,393,000 after acquiring an additional 381,847 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.20% of the company’s stock.
Several research firms have recently weighed in on KR. ValuEngine raised shares of Kroger from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank set a $32.00 price target on shares of Kroger and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Pivotal Research reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $26.00 price target (down previously from $31.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Kroger from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Kroger has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.33.
In other news, EVP Christopher T. Hjelm sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.80, for a total transaction of $412,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 282,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,286,668.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert D. Beyer sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.52, for a total transaction of $1,961,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 126,800 shares in the company, valued at $3,109,136. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.07% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
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NYSE KR traded down $0.28 on Monday, hitting $25.50. The stock had a trading volume of 5,021,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,081,514. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Kroger Co has a 52-week low of $23.52 and a 52-week high of $32.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.63.
Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.03). Kroger had a return on equity of 23.50% and a net margin of 2.57%. The firm had revenue of $28.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $28.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kroger Co will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
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 issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.54%.
Date: April 25, 2019
Source: Finance Daily