Guggenheim Capital LLC Sells 5,848 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Guggenheim Capital LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,583 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,848 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $2,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on KR. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Melius downgraded shares of Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Melius Research downgraded Kroger from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 13,867 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.82, for a total transaction of $995,927.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,402,156.76. The trade was a 15.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,000 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total transaction of $72,030.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,473 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $754,370.19. This trade represents a 8.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 304,923 shares of company stock valued at $20,705,024 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Kroger Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of KR stock traded down $1.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $71.96. The stock had a trading volume of 14,002,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,485,225. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $66.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.56 billion, a PE ratio of 19.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $73.63.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The business had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. Equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.88%.

About Kroger

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.