United Services Automobile Association Cuts Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

United Services Automobile Association reduced its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 6.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,741 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,441 shares during the quarter. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Kroger were worth $986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the 1st quarter worth $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC grew 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 worth $1,087,276,000 after buying an additional 1,123,427 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased 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 worth $46,060,000 after buying an additional 711,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings 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 valued at $60,333,000 after acquiring an additional 668,440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on KR shares. StockNews.com upgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.64.

Kroger Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $52.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $53.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its quarterly 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. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The business had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.69%.

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.