Raiffeisen Bank International AG Sells 5,534 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG lessened its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 82.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,139 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,534 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG’s holdings in Kroger were worth $76,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $801,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,054,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,402,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 298,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,133,000 after acquiring an additional 11,741 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 37,960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.44, for a total transaction of $2,749,822.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 75,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,448,791.92. This represents a 33.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 26,814 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.50, for a total transaction of $1,890,387.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 99,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,989,581.50. This represents a 21.29% 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 quarter. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on KR. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $76.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Melius Research raised shares of Kroger from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.16.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $71.74 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $47.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.59. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $50.69 and a 1-year high of $74.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. Kroger had a net margin of 1.89% and a return on equity of 34.71%. The business had revenue of $45.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.88%.

Kroger 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.