New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 658,025 shares of the company’s stock after selling 103,866 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.09% of Kroger worth $30,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KR. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 22,662,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,014,168,000 after acquiring an additional 498,995 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Kroger by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,833,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,551,000 after acquiring an additional 511,978 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,492,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,023,000 after acquiring an additional 78,710 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Kroger by 0.3% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,005,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,242,000 after purchasing an additional 10,556 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Kroger by 2.0% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,619,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,246,000 after purchasing an additional 50,177 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.52, for a total transaction of $832,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 77,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,681.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on KR shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.17.

Kroger Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $55.91 on Friday. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $40.35 billion, a PE ratio of 18.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $54.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.16.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $37.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

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.