Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Has $614,000 Holdings in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lessened its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 85.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,748 shares of the company’s stock after selling 64,355 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in Kroger were worth $614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 13,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. W Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Kroger by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 32,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,878,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its stake in Kroger by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 4,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Kroger by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 20,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Kroger Price Performance

KR traded up $0.35 during trading on Monday, hitting $54.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,315,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,211,632. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The Kroger Co. has a 12 month low of $42.10 and a 12 month high of $58.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.73.

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 forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $5.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.33%. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kroger’s payout ratio is presently 39.59%.

Insider Transactions at Kroger

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total transaction of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Kenneth C. Kimball sold 30,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.98, for a total value of $1,693,450.98. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 105,298 shares in the company, valued at $5,894,582.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.53, for a total value of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,796 shares of company stock worth $3,227,827 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Kroger

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.