CIBC Asset Management Inc Sells 852 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

CIBC Asset Management Inc lessened its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR – Get Rating) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 68,754 shares of the company’s stock after selling 852 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Kroger were worth $3,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in Kroger by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 17,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 4,354 shares during the period. CWM LLC bought a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $608,000. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in Kroger by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 10,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 170.6% during the fourth quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 383,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,338,000 after buying an additional 241,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FDx Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 13,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $629,000 after buying an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.52% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 1.2 %

KR opened at $47.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.49. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $38.22 and a 12 month high of $62.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Kroger (NYSE:KR – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 16th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $44.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.23 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.54% and a return on equity of 31.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 12th. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 28.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Kroger from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $75.00 in a report on Friday, April 8th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, June 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $50.00 to $53.00 in a report on Friday, June 17th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Kroger from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, April 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Friday, June 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.22.

Kroger Profile

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The Kroger Co operates as a 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.