Financial Counselors Inc. Buys 16,332 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 57.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,559 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,332 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $2,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S acquired a new position in Kroger during the first quarter worth about $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 5.0% in 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 in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake 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, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 86.4% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,274,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,840,000 after purchasing an additional 590,818 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com raised Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.64.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $53.70 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $38.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.40. The Kroger Co. has a twelve month low of $42.10 and a twelve month high of $58.34.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $984,975.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.