Demars Financial Group LLC Sells 77,583 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Demars Financial Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 93.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,260 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77,583 shares during the quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.7% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 8,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.4% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 65,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,948,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 2.0% in the third quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 12,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Mendel Capital Management LLC now owns 33,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,514,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balentine LLC increased its stake in shares of Kroger by 2.5% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Down 0.1 %

KR stock traded down $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $55.55. 300,424 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,903,175. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.05. The Kroger Co. has a 1 year low of $42.10 and a 1 year high of $58.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.17.

Kroger Company 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.