The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Stock Position Raised by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR – Free Report) by 11.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 126,461 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,498 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kroger were worth $6,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KR. Sanders Capital LLC acquired a new position in Kroger in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $622,480,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in Kroger by 5,992.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,299,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,221,000 after buying an additional 4,228,468 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kroger in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $156,126,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Kroger by 119.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,289,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,795,000 after buying an additional 2,874,114 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Kroger by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,667,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,642,000 after buying an additional 2,552,989 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.98% of the company’s stock.

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Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, SVP Timothy A. Massa sold 23,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.46, for a total transaction of $1,045,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 194,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,862,699.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on KR shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Kroger from $56.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. 3M restated a “maintains” rating on shares of Kroger in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Wednesday, September 6th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Kroger from $51.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Monday, June 19th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Kroger from $75.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.33.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Kroger

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of Kroger stock opened at $46.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The Kroger Co. has a fifty-two week low of $41.81 and a fifty-two week high of $50.41. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.54. The company has a market cap of $33.25 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.48.

Kroger (NYSE:KR – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, September 8th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.05. Kroger had a net margin of 1.10% and a return on equity of 30.61%. The firm had revenue of $33.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Kroger Co. will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Kroger Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 14th. Kroger’s payout ratio is 51.79%.

About Kroger

(Free Report)

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.

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