Vectors Research Management LLC Cuts Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Vectors Research Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,096 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,039 shares during the quarter. Vectors Research Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,027,979,000 after acquiring an additional 773,182 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,002,479,000 after purchasing an additional 416,962 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,113,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $863,060,000 after purchasing an additional 120,250 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $598,390,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,054,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,402,000 after buying an additional 1,981,259 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KR. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim upped their price target on Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised 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. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.50.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $71.30 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $66.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.84. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $71.93.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,131.04. The trade was a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 290,056 shares of company stock valued at $19,637,066 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.