Financial Counselors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Financial Counselors Inc. grew its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 57.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,559 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 16,332 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,087,276,000 after buying an additional 1,123,427 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,453,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $660,653,000 after acquiring an additional 214,852 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Kroger by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,592,371 shares of the company's stock worth $575,546,000 after acquiring an additional 503,839 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth approximately $229,863,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Kroger by 0.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,610,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,210,000 after purchasing an additional 11,541 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com raised Kroger from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Kroger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Kroger Trading Down 0.6 %

KR traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,593,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,961,867. The firm has a market cap of $38.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.45. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.40.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. Kroger's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This is an increase from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger's payout ratio is 43.69%.

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.