The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by United Services Automobile Association

United Services Automobile Association cut its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 18.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,118 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,623 shares during the quarter. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Kroger were worth $924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KR. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Kroger by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after purchasing an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,176,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,697,000 after buying an additional 36,083 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth about $10,336,000. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,524,000. Finally, Wright Investors Service Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 63.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. now owns 38,934 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,231,000 after acquiring an additional 15,048 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on KR. Roth Mkm upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Kroger from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.33.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $59.23 on Monday. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $43.51 and a 1 year high of $61.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $33.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.86%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were 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 owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This trade represents a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger 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.