First Horizon Advisors Inc. Sells 995 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 18.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,296 shares of the company’s stock after selling 995 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 218.8% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total transaction of $386,247.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $784,715.40. This trade represents a 32.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.09.

Kroger Price Performance

KR opened at $59.22 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.89 and a 200 day moving average of $54.23. The stock has a market cap of $42.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.97 and a 52-week high of $60.35.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

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.