The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Shares Sold by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS decreased its holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 141,528 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,029 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Kroger were worth $8,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,052,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,717,000 after buying an additional 148,221 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,248,000 after buying an additional 53,006 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $566,000. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total transaction of $7,839,343.92. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares in the company, valued at $9,486,131.04. This trade represents a 45.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total transaction of $86,723.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,090 shares in the company, valued at $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 212,244 shares of company stock worth $14,282,348. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of KR stock opened at $65.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $49.04 and a 52 week high of $68.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $63.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.86.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.85% and a return on equity of 27.73%. The company had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. On average, research analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $7.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

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.