Parcion Private Wealth LLC Sells 2,161 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Parcion Private Wealth LLC cut its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,004 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,161 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $3,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 53.3% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Kroger by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,380,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,115,000 after acquiring an additional 261,368 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Kroger by 18.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 820,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,882,000 after acquiring an additional 129,873 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its position in Kroger by 82.2% in the second quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 132,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 59,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $671,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:KR traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $52.27. 6,632,147 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,965,830. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.73 billion, a PE ratio of 17.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s 50 day moving average is $53.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The firm had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.32 dividend. 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 yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on KR. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kroger has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.