Opus Capital Group LLC Lowers Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Opus Capital Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,557 shares of the company’s stock after selling 222 shares during the period. Opus Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $156,126,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Kroger by 82.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,667,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,642,000 after purchasing an additional 2,552,989 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $71,410,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,220,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC increased its position in Kroger by 32.3% during the first quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 3,826,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,890,000 after buying an additional 933,009 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on KR shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 report on Tuesday. Finally, BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.17.

Kroger Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of KR stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $55.26. 4,316,778 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,986,460. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market cap of $39.88 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $52.63 and a 200 day moving average of $47.63.

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 firm had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

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 $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 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.