Sienna Gestion Sells 12,817 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sienna Gestion lessened its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 10.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 110,614 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,817 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Kroger were worth $7,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 46.7% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Melius Research upgraded Kroger from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $83.00 price objective on Kroger and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $76.00 price objective on Kroger and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Kroger from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, Director Clyde R. Moore sold 3,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.61, for a total value of $272,834.10. Following the sale, the director directly owned 85,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,147,718.50. This trade represents a 4.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mary Ellen Adcock sold 34,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.16, for a total value of $2,437,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 184,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,127,098.68. The trade was a 15.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 198,948 shares of company stock valued at $14,422,926 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 4.3%

Kroger stock opened at $70.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $46.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.59. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $50.69 and a 52 week high of $74.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $70.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, June 20th. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $45.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.35 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 34.71% and a net margin of 1.89%. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 38.15%.

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.