The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) Holdings Decreased by Qsemble Capital Management LP

Qsemble Capital Management LP lowered its position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 52.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,654 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,290 shares during the quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP’s holdings in Kroger were worth $1,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in Kroger by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 23,786,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,087,276,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,427 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,453,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,653,000 after acquiring an additional 214,852 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 4th quarter valued at about $229,863,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,610,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,210,000 after acquiring an additional 11,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maj Invest Holding A S increased its holdings in shares of Kroger by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S now owns 4,395,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,029 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Kroger from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Argus increased their target price on Kroger from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Kroger from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Kroger from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $58.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Kroger from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kroger currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Insider Activity at Kroger

In related 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 transaction of $109,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $984,975.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kroger Price Performance

Kroger stock opened at $55.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $39.85 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.47. The Kroger Co. has a one year low of $42.10 and a one year high of $58.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.56.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 12th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Kroger had a return on equity of 29.89% and a net margin of 1.43%. The business had revenue of $33.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. Kroger’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kroger Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. This is a boost from Kroger’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.69%.

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.