New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $19.95 Million Stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 348,107 shares of the company’s stock after selling 81,838 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Kroger were worth $19,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lincluden Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.1% during the third quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 126,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Kroger in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings in Kroger by 53.0% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 7,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 2,492 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its holdings in Kroger by 21.1% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 1.7% in the third quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 43,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,513,000 after acquiring an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,644,743.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 6,922 shares of Kroger 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 directly owns 14,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $784,715.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on KR. Argus boosted their price target on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. BNP Paribas began coverage on Kroger in a research note on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com lowered Kroger from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.09.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR opened at $56.27 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $55.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.89. The Kroger Co. has a 1-year low of $42.10 and a 1-year high of $58.34. The stock has a market cap of $40.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.51%.

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.