Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Sells 409 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,672 shares of the company’s stock after selling 409 shares during the quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on KR. Melius Research downgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Kroger from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.06.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $69.49 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.70 and a 200 day moving average of $64.02. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $73.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock has a market cap of $45.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 34.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,599.82. This represents a 34.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $72,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $754,370.19. This represents a 8.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Kroger

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.