The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC

Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC reduced its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,259 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,863 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Kroger by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,717,000 after acquiring an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth about $566,000. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,210,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $353,246,000 after buying an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $70.03 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $46.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $73.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $66.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.40.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the topic of several research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Melius cut Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

Kroger 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.