Citigroup Inc. Sells 452,924 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Citigroup Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 47.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 494,899 shares of the company’s stock after selling 452,924 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $28,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Mendel Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.6% in the third quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 31,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Kroger by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $826,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M3 Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.6% in the third quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kroger

In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 through the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % 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 valued at $721,243 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on KR. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.27.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $60.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.87. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.97 and a fifty-two week high of $60.58. The stock has a market cap of $43.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.96 and a 200-day moving average of $54.25.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

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.