MCF Advisors LLC Sells 223 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

MCF Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,506 shares of the company’s stock after selling 223 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $69,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 4,810.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,955,000 after purchasing an additional 556,266 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 284,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,715,000 after purchasing an additional 11,707 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Kroger by 49.3% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 115,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,165,000 after purchasing an additional 38,119 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Kroger by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 156,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,143,000 after purchasing an additional 17,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Kroger by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,647,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,175,000 after purchasing an additional 115,264 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Up 0.6 %

Kroger stock opened at $56.93 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.96. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.17.

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.