Veritable L.P. Cuts Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Veritable L.P. lessened its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,566 shares of the company’s stock after selling 339 shares during the quarter. Veritable L.P.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $622,480,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 5,992.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,299,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,221,000 after purchasing an additional 4,228,468 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $156,126,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 82.0% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,667,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,642,000 after buying an additional 2,552,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth about $64,087,000. 78.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Down 4.2 %

KR stock opened at $42.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.50. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.57 and a one year high of $50.41. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.79 and a 200-day moving average of $46.55.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Friday, September 8th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $33.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.12 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 30.61% and a net margin of 1.10%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 51.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 23,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.46, for a total value of $1,045,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 194,956 shares in the company, valued at $8,862,699.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.46, for a total transaction of $1,045,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 194,956 shares in the company, valued at $8,862,699.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.50, for a total transaction of $279,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 44,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,050,185. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,798 shares of company stock worth $1,542,985 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.57.

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.