New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $20.13 Million Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 329,107 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,000 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Kroger were worth $20,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 25.5% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 212,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,170,000 after purchasing an additional 43,143 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 88.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 103,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,953,000 after acquiring an additional 48,843 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kroger by 6.9% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4,697.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 448,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,682,000 after acquiring an additional 438,856 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Kroger by 52.2% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 5,087 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.19.

Kroger Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of KR opened at $65.03 on Friday. 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 Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $46.96 and a 52-week high of $66.18. The firm has a market cap of $47.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $61.77 and its 200-day moving average is $58.20.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.01. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $33.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.86%.

Kroger announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Stuart Aitken sold 132,627 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.18, for a total transaction of $8,379,373.86. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 217,523 shares in the company, valued at $13,743,103.14. This trade represents a 37.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 16,932 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.44, for a total transaction of $1,040,302.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,304,366.08. The trade was a 23.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 195,448 shares of company stock valued at $12,143,923. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kroger 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.