The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Private Management Group Inc.

Private Management Group Inc. lessened its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 86,135 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,190 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $3,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4,810.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,955,000 after buying an additional 556,266 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Kroger by 4.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 284,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,715,000 after buying an additional 11,707 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Kroger by 49.3% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 115,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,165,000 after buying an additional 38,119 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 156,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,143,000 after buying an additional 17,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Kroger by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,647,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,175,000 after buying an additional 115,264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on KR shares. Guggenheim increased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.17.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $56.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,258,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,927,467. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.05. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. The company has a market cap of $40.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors 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 yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.