Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 8,596 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 24.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 26,709 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,596 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 53.3% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 3,212 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Kroger during the 1st quarter worth about $222,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Kroger by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 159,546 shares of the company's stock worth $9,115,000 after acquiring an additional 3,708 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in Kroger by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the company's stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twin Tree Management LP lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 1,303.3% during the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 179,651 shares of the company's stock worth $10,263,000 after purchasing an additional 166,849 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.09.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger 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 transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This represents a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total value of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at $4,142,036.44. This represents a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock worth $721,243 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Kroger Trading Down 1.8 %

Kroger stock traded down $1.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $58.02. 3,600,596 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,689,141. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $60.35. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $56.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.10.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

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.