The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,942,089 shares of the company’s stock after selling 197,928 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.27% of Kroger worth $118,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KR. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the third quarter worth $95,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Kroger by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 884,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,688,000 after buying an additional 40,914 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 valued at $353,246,000 after acquiring an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Park National Corp OH lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 14,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $877,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $72.38 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $47.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $49.04 and a 12-month high of $73.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. Equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.77%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $806,523.90. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 334,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,867,124. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KR shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Melius downgraded Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Roth Capital set a $58.00 price objective on Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.06.

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.