Ethic Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Ethic Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 49.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,845 shares of the company's stock after selling 57,520 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Kroger were worth $3,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,027,979,000 after purchasing an additional 773,182 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Kroger by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,002,479,000 after purchasing an additional 416,962 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,113,596 shares of the company's stock worth $863,060,000 after acquiring an additional 120,250 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $598,390,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Kroger by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,829,401 shares of the company's stock worth $478,768,000 after acquiring an additional 916,230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Melius downgraded shares of Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Melius Research cut Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 52,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total value of $719,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,308,919.22. This represents a 7.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

KR traded down $1.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $66.36. The stock had a trading volume of 8,982,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,689,851. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $49.04 and a 1 year high of $73.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.51 and a 200 day moving average of $63.60. The company has a market cap of $43.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's payout ratio is 34.88%.

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.