Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Reduces Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. cut its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,710 shares of the company’s stock after selling 571 shares during the quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SouthState Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 334.3% during the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 370.1% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KR. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.30.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $49.93 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $36.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.25%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.59%.

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.