The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Lakeside Advisors INC.

Lakeside Advisors INC. reduced its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 32,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the quarter. Kroger makes up approximately 1.0% of Lakeside Advisors INC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Lakeside Advisors INC.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KR. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the third quarter valued at $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 370.1% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 430.8% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim raised their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.28. 6,182,765 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,298,171. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.63. The stock has a market cap of $39.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a return on equity of 31.44% and a net margin of 1.44%. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

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.