Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Has $27.92 Million Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 224.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 487,200 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 337,000 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned approximately 0.07% of Kroger worth $27,917,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Kroger by 5.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,591,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,562,000 after buying an additional 723,771 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 13.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,759,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,456,000 after acquiring an additional 917,923 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 96.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,381,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643,811 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 8.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,279,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,543,000 after acquiring an additional 407,690 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kroger by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,890,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,248,000 after acquiring an additional 53,006 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kroger news, SVP Valerie L. Jabbar sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 74,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,142,036.44. The trade was a 3.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.57, for a total transaction of $167,265.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 47,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,743.01. The trade was a 5.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,932 shares of company stock valued at $721,243 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Kroger from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Kroger in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.55.

Kroger Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE KR opened at $60.52 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The Kroger Co. has a 52 week low of $42.97 and a 52 week high of $61.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $57.19 and its 200 day moving average is $54.33. The company has a market cap of $43.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a net margin of 1.86% and a return on equity of 28.54%. The company had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 33.51%.

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.