Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Has $4.76 Million Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 95,245 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,030 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Kroger were worth $4,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Maj Invest Holding A S acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,562,000 after purchasing an additional 723,771 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 337.4% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 922,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,060,000 after purchasing an additional 711,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 127.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,194,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,333,000 after purchasing an additional 668,440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.80.

Kroger Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $55.39 on Monday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.89. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34. The firm has a market cap of $39.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.