The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Signet Financial Management LLC

Signet Financial Management LLC decreased its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,716 shares of the company’s stock after selling 669 shares during the quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of KR. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 17,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $879,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 11,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 8,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $55.26 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.19%.

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.