Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $18.76 Million Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 7.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 328,396 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,958 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Kroger were worth $18,761,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KR. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Kroger by 255.6% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 101.6% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter worth $29,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the first quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.64.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $54.56 on Tuesday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The business had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.28 per share. 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 9.38%. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s payout ratio is 39.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.