Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Sells 894 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lessened its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,543 shares of the company’s stock after selling 894 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Kroger were worth $626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 53.3% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,380,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,115,000 after buying an additional 261,368 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,882,000 after acquiring an additional 129,873 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 82.2% during the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 59,949 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $671,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $55.04 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.73 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on KR. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Argus lifted their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.09.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 SEC, which is available through this link. 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.