Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Invests $204,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,337 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 18,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KR shares. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Melius Research downgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Melius lowered shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the company’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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $2,162,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 97,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,043,905.59. This represents a 23.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR opened at $72.00 on Monday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $49.04 and a 12 month high of $73.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.49. 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 firm has a market cap of $47.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion for 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 research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. 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.