Bison Wealth LLC Has $269,000 Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Bison Wealth LLC lessened its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 52.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,404 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,929 shares during the quarter. Bison Wealth LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $269,000 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 the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 18,045 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in Kroger by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company's stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in Kroger by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,432,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company's stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Melius lowered Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.06.

Kroger Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE KR traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $72.87. 4,949,902 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,607,773. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $73.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $72,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,473 shares in the company, valued at $754,370.19. The trade was a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.