Capital Square LLC Lowers Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Capital Square LLC cut its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 22.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,126 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,469 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $618,000. Demars Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 5,326.4% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 349,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,393,000 after buying an additional 343,392 shares in the last quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $247,000. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $288,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 69,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,259,000 after acquiring an additional 32,256 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total transaction of $719,070.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 127,106 shares in the company, valued at $8,308,919.22. This trade represents a 7.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 258,785 shares of company stock worth $17,476,866. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

Kroger Price Performance

NYSE:KR opened at $69.07 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.56. The firm has a market cap of $45.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $49.04 and a one year high of $71.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

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.