Kentucky Retirement Systems Cuts Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 50,264 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,685 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Kroger were worth $2,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 4,810.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,955,000 after acquiring an additional 556,266 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 53.3% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 9,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 3,212 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 23.3% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 18.8% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter valued at $671,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 17th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.64.

Kroger Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Kroger stock traded down $0.20 on Monday, reaching $54.07. 466,956 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,121,620. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $52.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.01. The company has a market capitalization of $39.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.10 and a 52 week high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.28 per share. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.47%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 39.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.