Courier Capital LLC Trims Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Courier Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,616 shares of the company’s stock after selling 421 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the 1st quarter worth $1,081,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 49.7% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 13,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $799,000 after acquiring an additional 4,642 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 65.3% during the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 4,235 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 11,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its position in Kroger by 35.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 6,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR opened at $57.62 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $54.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.86. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $41.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 28.54% and a net margin of 1.86%. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $784,715.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.09.

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.