Simmons Bank Sells 17,428 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Simmons Bank lowered its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 79.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,551 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,428 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank's holdings in Kroger were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. SouthState Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 334.3% during the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 370.1% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 430.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 613.0% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 820 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total value of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,615,091.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total value of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at $2,615,091.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on KR. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.17.

Kroger Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of KR traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $55.00. 3,481,415 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,838,169. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $39.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company's fifty day moving average price is $55.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $37.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. Kroger's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 2.11%. Kroger's payout ratio is 39.19%.

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.