Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Has $145,000 Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust trimmed its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,173 shares of the company’s stock after selling 295 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Kroger were worth $145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 2.7% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 8,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 65,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,948,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 2.0% during the third quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 12,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 33,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balentine LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.5% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR stock opened at $56.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.11. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kroger 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.