Howard Capital Management Inc. Sells 681 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Howard Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 72,518 shares of the company’s stock after selling 681 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $4,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 1.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $850,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Kroger by 3.7% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 8.8% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 307,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,834,000 after acquiring an additional 24,849 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Kroger by 4.0% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 8,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 67.2% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, EVP Timothy A. Massa sold 8,415 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $622,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 118,761 shares in the company, valued at $8,788,314. This represents a 6.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Mary Ellen Adcock sold 34,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.16, for a total value of $2,437,230.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 184,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,127,098.68. This represents a 15.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 198,948 shares of company stock valued at $14,422,926 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $69.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $69.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.19. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $50.69 and a 52-week high of $74.11.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $45.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.35 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 1.76%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 34.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on KR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kroger from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Barclays began coverage on Kroger in a research report on Monday, July 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Kroger from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.16.

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.