California Public Employees Retirement System Has $181.04 Million Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,960,544 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,868 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Kroger were worth $181,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of KR. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in Kroger during the third quarter worth about $42,220,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,619,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Kroger by 378.8% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 765,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,988,000 after buying an additional 605,591 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 4,810.7% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 567,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,955,000 after purchasing an additional 556,266 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Kroger by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,364,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,814,000 after purchasing an additional 548,240 shares during the period. 80.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

Kroger Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of KR stock traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $56.56. The stock had a trading volume of 685,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,905,578. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $53.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.96. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $42.10 and a 52-week high of $58.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.82 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The company had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. Kroger’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

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.