The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 240,037 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,891 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $10,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 17,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $879,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 11,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 8,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several research reports. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.17.

Kroger Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $55.26 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The company has a market cap of $39.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.63.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors 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 (DPR) is 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.