Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Has $5.56 Million Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lessened its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,382 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,432 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Kroger were worth $5,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KR. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 255.6% during the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Kroger by 101.6% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Kroger Stock Up 7.2 %

Kroger stock opened at $55.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.86. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $53.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.56. The firm has a market cap of $39.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 1.43% and a return on equity of 29.89%. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict 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 paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s payout ratio is currently 43.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on KR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

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.