Court Place Advisors LLC Has $239,000 Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Court Place Advisors LLC reduced its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,224 shares of the company’s stock after selling 394 shares during the quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth approximately $156,126,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Kroger by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,667,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,642,000 after buying an additional 2,552,989 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Kroger in the 1st quarter worth approximately $71,410,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,220,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in Kroger by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 3,826,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,890,000 after buying an additional 933,009 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock traded down $0.02 on Wednesday, reaching $55.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,193,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,995,096. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $39.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.63. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the topic of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted 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. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on 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 issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.17.

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.