First Trust Advisors LP Sells 68,852 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

First Trust Advisors LP lessened its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,289,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 68,852 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Kroger were worth $78,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,027,979,000 after acquiring an additional 773,182 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,436,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,479,000 after purchasing an additional 416,962 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $598,390,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,054,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,402,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,246,000 after purchasing an additional 37,222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on Kroger in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

Kroger Stock Performance

NYSE KR opened at $72.44 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $73.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.96. The company has a market capitalization of $47.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.37, for a total value of $719,070.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 127,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,308,919.22. This trade represents a 7.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 5,541 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.79, for a total value of $392,247.39. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $246,349.20. The trade was a 61.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 290,056 shares of company stock valued at $19,637,066 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.