ORG Partners LLC Has $38,000 Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 613.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 820 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $38,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in Kroger by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 12,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 30.2% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 29,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,672,000 after purchasing an additional 6,764 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in Kroger by 7.1% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 14,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at $1,443,000. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in Kroger by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 7,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $55.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $39.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.63 and a 200-day moving average of $47.63. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend 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.