The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock Position Cut by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 334,242 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,419 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $16,689,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 255.6% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 101.6% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research raised Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Argus upped their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.36.

Kroger Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $56.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.89.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at $2,644,743.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.