Simmons Bank Sells 17,428 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Simmons Bank reduced its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 79.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,551 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,428 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Kroger were worth $208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,610,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,739,000 after acquiring an additional 118,209 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 11,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Kroger by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 467,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,606,000 after acquiring an additional 23,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Todd Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kroger by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 455,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,806,000 after acquiring an additional 9,663 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kroger news, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total value of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 55,796 shares of company stock worth $3,118,767 in the last three months. 1.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $55.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $55.26 and its 200 day moving average is $48.83. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

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.