MCF Advisors LLC Trims Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

MCF Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 33.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,006 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $57,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.9% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 418,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,734,000 after purchasing an additional 23,440 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the third quarter valued at $249,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Kroger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 304,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,630,000 after acquiring an additional 3,324 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 88.8% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 62,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,805,000 after acquiring an additional 29,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 14.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 65,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,951,000 after acquiring an additional 8,387 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.30.

Kroger Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $49.93 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.93. The firm has a market cap of $36.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.43.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $1.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.25%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 39.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at $5,894,582.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.