The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by First Hawaiian Bank

First Hawaiian Bank lowered its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 53.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,605 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,419 shares during the quarter. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Kroger were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Kroger by 4,810.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,955,000 after acquiring an additional 556,266 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Kroger by 4.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 284,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,715,000 after acquiring an additional 11,707 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Kroger by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,380,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,115,000 after buying an additional 261,368 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth about $671,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 156,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,143,000 after buying an additional 17,380 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares in the company, valued at $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total value of $368,445.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:KR opened at $50.21 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.75. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $36.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.20.

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.