The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Acquired by Pettee Investors Inc.

Pettee Investors Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,947 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,836 shares during the quarter. Pettee Investors Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at about $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC grew its holdings in Kroger by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,087,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,427 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in shares of Kroger by 337.4% in the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 922,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,060,000 after buying an additional 711,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 590,818 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.64.

Kroger Trading Up 0.0 %

Kroger stock opened at $53.71 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.33, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.40.

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

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

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.