Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Decreases Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 299,786 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,184 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Kroger were worth $17,178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Kroger in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 218.8% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $1,167,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 144,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,444,361.80. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,821 shares of company stock valued at $3,445,490 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $60.74 on Wednesday. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $43.51 and a fifty-two week high of $61.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market cap of $43.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect 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 was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.33.

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.