Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $11.45 Million Stock Position in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 250,506 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,977 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Kroger were worth $11,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KR. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Kroger during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 370.1% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 430.8% during the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Kroger by 613.0% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kroger during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Kroger in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Kroger from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Kroger from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. BNP Paribas reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Kroger in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Kroger from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.17.

Kroger Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KR traded down $0.73 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $56.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,630,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,918,165. The company has a fifty day moving average of $53.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.48. 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 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Kroger (NYSE:KR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.21. Kroger had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 31.44%. The firm had revenue of $37.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Kroger Co. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Kroger Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Kroger’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

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.