Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 21,700 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 47.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,796 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,700 shares during the quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $1,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 370.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 430.8% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the period. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Kroger Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE KR traded down $0.10 on Tuesday, reaching $55.26. The stock had a trading volume of 6,182,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,994,512. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $52.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $39.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS 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 is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. Kroger's payout ratio is 39.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $55.17.

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.