OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 28.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 18,666 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,591 shares during the quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $1,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company's stock worth $5,027,979,000 after acquiring an additional 773,182 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company's stock worth $1,002,479,000 after acquiring an additional 416,962 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth 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 stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $598,390,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Kroger by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,829,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $478,768,000 after purchasing an additional 916,230 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
KR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price objective on Kroger and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Melius raised Kroger from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.00.
Read Our Latest Research Report on KR
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Kroger news, EVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 37,960 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.44, for a total transaction of $2,749,822.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 75,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,448,791.92. This represents a 33.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 16,475 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.79, for a total value of $1,215,690.25. Following the sale, the vice president owned 49,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,642,274.40. The trade was a 25.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 244,462 shares of company stock valued at $17,649,963 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.
Kroger Price Performance
NYSE:KR opened at $71.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $69.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.07. The company has a market cap of $47.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.59. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $50.69 and a 52-week high of $74.11.
Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $45.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.35 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Kroger Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This is a boost from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Kroger's payout ratio is 34.88%.
About Kroger
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding KR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report).
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