California Public Employees Retirement System Has $182.58 Million Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,985,786 shares of the company’s stock after selling 73,654 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Kroger were worth $182,581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kroger by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 82,223,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,027,979,000 after buying an additional 773,182 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Kroger by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,057,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,110,681 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,019,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $914,795,000 after purchasing an additional 126,303 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter worth approximately $598,390,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 0.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,164,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $353,246,000 after buying an additional 37,222 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In other news, SVP Yael Cosset sold 115,149 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.08, for a total value of $7,839,343.92. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 139,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,486,131.04. This represents a 45.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Foley sold 28,105 shares of Kroger stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.62, for a total transaction of $1,872,355.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 52,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,521,599.82. The trade was a 34.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 223,244 shares of company stock worth $15,001,418. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Stock Performance

KR opened at $66.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.54. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.51. The Kroger Co. has a 52-week low of $49.04 and a 52-week high of $68.51.

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

Kroger announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 11th that permits the company to buyback $7.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 16.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Kroger Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Kroger’s payout ratio is 34.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kroger from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Kroger from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Kroger from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Kroger in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Kroger from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.88.

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.