Intrust Bank NA Sells 1,867 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Intrust Bank NA lowered its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,126 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,867 shares during the quarter. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 8,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 65,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,948,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.0% in the third quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 12,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Mendel Capital Management LLC lifted 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 position in shares of Kroger by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim upped their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target 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 issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total transaction of $1,693,450.98. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 105,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,894,582.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767. 1.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR stock traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $55.42. The company had a trading volume of 218,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,836,347. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $40.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $54.40 and a 200-day moving average of $48.37.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors 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 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.