RWC Asset Management LLP Has $491,000 Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

RWC Asset Management LLP lessened its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 78.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,742 shares of the company's stock after selling 38,862 shares during the period. RWC Asset Management LLP's holdings in Kroger were worth $491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in Kroger by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,662,962 shares of the company's stock worth $1,014,168,000 after purchasing an additional 498,995 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Kroger by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,833,537 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,551,000 after acquiring an additional 511,978 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,492,143 shares of the company's stock valued at $201,023,000 after acquiring an additional 78,710 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Kroger by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,005,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $179,242,000 after acquiring an additional 10,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,619,742 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,246,000 after acquiring an additional 50,177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 105,298 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,894,582.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,180 shares of company stock worth $2,750,322. Corporate insiders own 1.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on KR shares. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. BNP Paribas reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Down 0.8 %

KR stock traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $55.49. 3,472,039 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,160,883. The firm's 50-day moving average is $54.24 and its 200-day moving average is $48.26. The company has a market cap of $40.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The company's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

Kroger Company 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.