SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 60.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 67,272 shares of the company's stock after selling 100,747 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $3,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $156,126,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Kroger by 82.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,667,159 shares of the company's stock worth $252,642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,552,989 shares during the last quarter. Virginia Retirement Systems ET AL bought a new stake in Kroger during the second quarter valued at approximately $82,523,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter worth $71,410,000. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter worth about $42,220,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
KR has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 1st. Guggenheim raised their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Kroger from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $42.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Kroger from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.45.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Kroger
Kroger Trading Up 0.8 %
KR stock traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $56.42. The company had a trading volume of 4,237,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,092,302. The company has a market capitalization of $40.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.33 and a 200 day moving average of $46.41. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $57.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36.
Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. Kroger's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Kroger Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.19%.
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.
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