Foundry Partners LLC Grows Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 354,049 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 31,903 shares during the period. Kroger accounts for about 0.9% of Foundry Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Foundry Partners LLC's holdings in Kroger were worth $17,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S bought a new position in Kroger during the 1st quarter worth about $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in Kroger by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,087,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,427 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Kroger by 337.4% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 922,487 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,060,000 after purchasing an additional 711,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 127.2% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,194,137 shares of the company's stock worth $60,333,000 after purchasing an additional 668,440 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Kroger from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Kroger from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.64.

Insider Activity

In other Kroger news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

Kroger stock traded down $1.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.25. 6,631,908 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,965,830. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. The firm's fifty day moving average is $53.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $37.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. This is a boost from Kroger's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger's payout ratio is presently 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.