The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. reduced its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,792 shares of the company’s stock after selling 334 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 2.3% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,662,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,014,168,000 after purchasing an additional 498,995 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 2.4% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,640,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,872,000 after purchasing an additional 322,040 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Kroger by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,922,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,355,000 after purchasing an additional 535,244 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Kroger by 7.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,833,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,551,000 after purchasing an additional 511,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Kroger by 82.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,667,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,552,989 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $55.61. 361,363 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,931,970. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.69. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The firm has a market cap of $40.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.