Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 98,543 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 908,255 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,543 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Kroger were worth $55,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Kroger by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 7,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its holdings in Kroger by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 23,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Kroger by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its holdings in Kroger by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 48,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total value of $1,872,355.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,521,599.82. This trade represents a 34.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Gabriel Arreaga sold 15,959 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.63, for a total value of $1,047,389.17. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 89,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,846,648.55. The trade was a 15.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 212,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,282,348. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on KR. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim increased their price target on Kroger from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Kroger from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Kroger from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.88.

Kroger Stock Down 1.2 %

KR stock opened at $64.69 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $63.24 and a 200-day moving average of $59.78. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.04 and a fifty-two week high of $68.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.05. Kroger had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $34.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.96 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kroger Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $7.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 16.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.88%.

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.