Western Wealth Management LLC Sells 209 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Western Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,494 shares of the company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in Kroger by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,427 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Kroger by 86.4% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,274,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,840,000 after acquiring an additional 590,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Kroger by 33.3% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,195,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,496,000 after acquiring an additional 548,044 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Kroger stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Monday, hitting $52.92. 1,391,267 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,989,450. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $38.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.82. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on KR shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Argus increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.64.

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.