J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Sells 2,470 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 16.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,399 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,470 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 12,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in Kroger by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 10,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 1,966 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 160,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,349,000 after purchasing an additional 706 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $232,000. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $56.19 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.74. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.09.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Kroger

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.