Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Reduces Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC decreased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,072 shares of the company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $42,220,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $39,619,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Kroger by 378.8% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 765,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,988,000 after purchasing an additional 605,591 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 4,810.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,955,000 after purchasing an additional 556,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,364,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,814,000 after purchasing an additional 548,240 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KR. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.17.

Kroger Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $55.62 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $53.69 and a 200-day moving average of $48.05. The firm has a market cap of $40.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

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

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.