Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Has $114.32 Million Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,000,985 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,105 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Kroger were worth $114,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,619,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,246,000 after purchasing an additional 50,177 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Kroger by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 7,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Kroger by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 585,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,201,000 after purchasing an additional 57,595 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Kroger by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 284,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,715,000 after acquiring an additional 11,707 shares during the period. Finally, Alethea Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter valued at about $445,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on KR. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. BNP Paribas restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.30.

Kroger Stock Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $50.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.06. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $42.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.34. The firm has a market cap of $36.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.45.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.86 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $1.28 dividend. This is a positive change from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $5.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $224,070.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,889.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Kroger news, VP Carin L. Fike sold 3,929 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total value of $224,070.87. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,889.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 6,616 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.69, for a total transaction of $368,445.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,615,091.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,796 shares of company stock valued at $3,118,767 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

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.