Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 43,792 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 453,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,792 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $28,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 77,169,425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,821,546,000 after buying an additional 868,529 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Kroger by 61.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,367,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,249,307,000 after buying an additional 12,652,261 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Kroger by 1.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,948,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,153,622,000 after buying an additional 386,503 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $470,561,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Kroger by 15.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,327,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $426,515,000 after buying an additional 865,559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of KR opened at $62.27 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $67.66 and its 200 day moving average is $66.65. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $58.60 and a fifty-two week high of $76.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.15 billion, a PE ratio of 40.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $34.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.10 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 0.69% and a return on equity of 41.08%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 91.50%.

Kroger News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kroger launched a limited-time All-American Ice Cream Collection and is giving away 100,000 free pints for the summer solstice, a marketing push that could lift store traffic and highlight the strength of its private-label business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a groundbreaking for a new store in Nicholasville, Kentucky, signaling ongoing footprint expansion and investment in growth markets. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Kroger’s CEO said the “basket has to come down” as the chain plans major price cuts to compete more aggressively with Walmart and Costco. That could help traffic, but it also points to margin pressure if discounts are broad-based. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Kroger is also rolling out digital price tags across nearly all local stores, a technology upgrade that could improve pricing efficiency but has drawn some controversy from shoppers. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also digesting reports that Kroger agreed to a multimillion-dollar federal settlement tied to refrigerant and Clean Air Act issues, including spending about $100 million on refrigerator fixes plus a fine, which could pressure near-term earnings. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KR. Morgan Stanley set a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.73.

Kroger Profile

The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) is one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States, offering a wide range of retail grocery and related services. Founded in Cincinnati in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company operates a portfolio of supermarket and multi-department store banners and provides customers with fresh foods, packaged groceries, deli and bakery items, meat and seafood, produce, and prepared foods. Kroger’s stores commonly include pharmacy services and fuel centers, positioning the company as a broad-based neighborhood retail destination for everyday needs.

In addition to traditional in-store retailing, Kroger manufactures and distributes a variety of private-label brands and operates its own food production and supply-chain facilities.