PGGM Investments Invests $396,000 in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

PGGM Investments bought a new position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in KR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter worth about $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S bought a new stake in Kroger during the 1st quarter worth about $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,123,427 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in Kroger by 378.8% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 765,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,988,000 after acquiring an additional 605,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Kroger by 86.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,274,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,840,000 after acquiring an additional 590,818 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:KR traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $52.68. The stock had a trading volume of 4,910,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,031,523. The firm has a market cap of $38.02 billion, a PE ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34.

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

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.28 per share. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.