Twin Capital Management Inc. Sells 7,473 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Twin Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 10.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,931 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,473 shares during the quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.3% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,662,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,168,000 after purchasing an additional 498,995 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.4% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,640,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,872,000 after purchasing an additional 322,040 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,922,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $442,355,000 after purchasing an additional 535,244 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Kroger by 7.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,833,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,551,000 after acquiring an additional 511,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Kroger by 82.0% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,667,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,642,000 after acquiring an additional 2,552,989 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.17.

Kroger Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Kroger stock traded down $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $55.24. 1,208,875 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,942,404. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.69. 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 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34. The company has a market cap of $39.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s 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.