Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases Shares of 35,902 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 35,902 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,641,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KR. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 6.3% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,869 shares of the company's stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 29,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,672,000 after buying an additional 6,764 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Kroger by 7.1% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 14,673 shares of the company's stock valued at $842,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter worth $1,443,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 7,703 shares of the company's stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Kroger Trading Up 0.3 %

KR stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Monday, reaching $55.35. The company had a trading volume of 4,228,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,977,215. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The company has a market cap of $39.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of $52.43 and a 200 day moving average of $47.56. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. Kroger's revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger's payout ratio is 39.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KR. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. BNP Paribas reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.08.

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.