Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 168,866 Shares of The Kroger Co. $KR

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,140,227 shares of the company’s stock after selling 168,866 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $258,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kroger by 268.1% during the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Kroger News

Here are the key news stories impacting Kroger this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kroger launched a limited-time All-American Ice Cream Collection and is giving away 100,000 free pints for the summer solstice, a marketing push that could lift store traffic and highlight the strength of its private-label business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company also announced a groundbreaking for a new store in Nicholasville, Kentucky, signaling ongoing footprint expansion and investment in growth markets. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Kroger’s CEO said the “basket has to come down” as the chain plans major price cuts to compete more aggressively with Walmart and Costco. That could help traffic, but it also points to margin pressure if discounts are broad-based. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Kroger is also rolling out digital price tags across nearly all local stores, a technology upgrade that could improve pricing efficiency but has drawn some controversy from shoppers. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also digesting reports that Kroger agreed to a multimillion-dollar federal settlement tied to refrigerant and Clean Air Act issues, including spending about $100 million on refrigerator fixes plus a fine, which could pressure near-term earnings. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.73.

Kroger Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of KR opened at $62.27 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $58.60 and a 1-year high of $76.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $67.66 and a 200 day moving average of $66.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.70, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.08. Kroger had a net margin of 0.69% and a return on equity of 41.08%. The company had revenue of $34.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.50%.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) is one of the largest supermarket operators in the United States, offering a wide range of retail grocery and related services. Founded in Cincinnati in 1883 by Bernard Kroger, the company operates a portfolio of supermarket and multi-department store banners and provides customers with fresh foods, packaged groceries, deli and bakery items, meat and seafood, produce, and prepared foods. Kroger’s stores commonly include pharmacy services and fuel centers, positioning the company as a broad-based neighborhood retail destination for everyday needs.

In addition to traditional in-store retailing, Kroger manufactures and distributes a variety of private-label brands and operates its own food production and supply-chain facilities.