Central Bank & Trust Co. Sells 825 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Central Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 20.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,259 shares of the company’s stock after selling 825 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. SouthState Corp increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 334.3% in the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 370.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 613.0% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 820 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:KR traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $50.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,746,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,432,605. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.65 and a 200-day moving average of $50.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Company 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.