Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 190,731 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,987,880 shares of the company’s stock after selling 190,731 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $90,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 430.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim increased their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.17.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of KR opened at $55.26 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.84 and a 200-day moving average of $47.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $39.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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

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.