Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Lowers Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lessened its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 96,275 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,692 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Kroger were worth $5,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of KR. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 255.6% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. SouthState Corp grew its stake in shares of Kroger by 334.3% during the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other 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 stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was 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 approximately $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:KR traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $54.42. 1,060,549 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,125,742. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $52.07 and its 200-day moving average is $52.01. 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 $39.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

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

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.28 per share. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.41%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wolfe Research raised Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

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.