Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 4,920 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Private Advisor Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 19.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,199 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,920 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in Kroger by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,427 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,619,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Kroger by 378.8% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 765,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,988,000 after purchasing an additional 605,591 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KR shares. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.30.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $52.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $38.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.45. 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 Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The company’s fifty day moving average is $52.32 and its 200 day moving average is $51.31.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.70%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,767 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.