Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Trims Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lowered its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,173 shares of the company’s stock after selling 295 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Kroger were worth $145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 4,810.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,955,000 after buying an additional 556,266 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Kroger by 4.3% during the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 284,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,715,000 after buying an additional 11,707 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Kroger by 49.3% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 115,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,165,000 after buying an additional 38,119 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 156,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,143,000 after buying an additional 17,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Kroger by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,647,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,175,000 after buying an additional 115,264 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim increased 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. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Up 0.9 %

KR opened at $56.15 on Thursday. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $40.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.11.

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

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.