Principal Street Partners LLC Reduces Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Principal Street Partners LLC lessened its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,176 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Kroger by 218.8% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 32.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.27.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $60.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.29. 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 $43.84 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.97 and a 1 year high of $60.70.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. 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 2.11%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.51%.

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.