Cerity Partners LLC Grows Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 156,275 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,380 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $7,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Kroger during the third quarter worth $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Kroger by 370.1% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the first quarter worth $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 430.8% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KR. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.08.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $55.35 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

Kroger Company 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.