Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 884,609 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 40,914 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Kroger worth $50,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Kroger by 5.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company's stock valued at $678,562,000 after acquiring an additional 723,771 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Kroger by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company's stock worth $387,456,000 after buying an additional 917,923 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Kroger by 96.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company's stock valued at $268,689,000 after buying an additional 2,643,811 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Kroger by 8.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,279,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $261,543,000 after buying an additional 407,690 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $230,210,000 after acquiring an additional 11,541 shares in the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on KR. Argus raised their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Melius Research started coverage on Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 47,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total value of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 in the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kroger Price Performance

KR traded down $0.31 during trading on Monday, hitting $59.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,852,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,723,863. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $60.35. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $55.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The firm's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Kroger's payout ratio is currently 33.51%.

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.