State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Stock Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 34.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 250,461 shares of the company’s stock after selling 134,379 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Kroger were worth $12,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 255.6% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Kroger by 101.6% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Kroger in the first quarter valued at $29,000. 80.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kroger

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KR shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Kroger from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research upgraded Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Kroger from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kroger from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Argus raised 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.09.

Kroger Stock Up 1.3 %

KR opened at $55.91 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.62. 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 one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $33.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.09 billion. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s payout ratio is 43.69%.

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.