Park National Corp OH Reduces Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Park National Corp OH lowered its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 14.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,331 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,012 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in Kroger were worth $835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on KR. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Kroger from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price target on Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Melius Research raised Kroger from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.06.

Kroger Stock Down 1.2%

Kroger stock opened at $66.89 on Friday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.43. The company has a market cap of $44.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $73.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $2,162,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 97,737 shares in the company, valued at $7,043,905.59. This represents a 23.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the 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 owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.