Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 36,083 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,176,218 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 36,083 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.30% of Kroger worth $124,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger during the third quarter worth $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kroger by 218.8% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 714 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kroger in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on Kroger in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.09.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $784,715.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.80, for a total value of $386,247.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at $784,715.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of Kroger 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KR traded down $0.21 during trading on Thursday, reaching $59.37. 675,544 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,686,199. The company has a 50-day moving average of $56.16 and a 200-day moving average of $54.07. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $60.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

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

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger's payout ratio is 33.51%.

Kroger Company 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.