Arjuna Capital Purchases 1,744 Shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Arjuna Capital lifted its position in shares of The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,428 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,744 shares during the period. Kroger comprises 1.3% of Arjuna Capital’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Kroger were worth $4,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kroger in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,863,000. Maj Invest Holding A S purchased a new position in shares of Kroger in the first quarter worth $185,913,000. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in Kroger by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,087,276,000 after buying an additional 1,123,427 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in Kroger by 337.4% during the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 922,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,060,000 after buying an additional 711,600 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in Kroger by 86.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,274,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,840,000 after acquiring an additional 590,818 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kroger to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kroger presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.64.

Kroger Stock Up 1.4 %

KR traded up $0.71 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.21. 4,398,804 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,963,813. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.16, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.15. The Kroger Co. has a 12-month low of $42.10 and a 12-month high of $58.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The company had revenue of $45.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. Kroger’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is 43.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brian W. Nichols sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 18,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.