The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Position Cut by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky cut its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 453,562 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,844 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned 0.06% of Kroger worth $27,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Kroger during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Kroger from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Roth Capital set a $58.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $73.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.50.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, EVP Christine S. Wheatley sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $2,162,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 97,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,043,905.59. The trade was a 23.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.71, for a total value of $86,723.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $806,523.90. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 334,923 shares of company stock worth $22,867,124 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kroger Trading Down 1.9 %

KR traded down $1.32 during trading on Friday, hitting $70.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,846,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,010,943. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $49.04 and a twelve month high of $73.63. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $66.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $46.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.60.

Kroger (NYSE:KR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $34.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.96 billion. On average, analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Kroger's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

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.